As Artemis II lifted off on its pioneering journey around the moon, Donald Trump's hopes for a quick end to his war-of-choice in Iran were crashing down to Earth.
After an angry threat to pull out of Nato, the US president, in a late-night televised address that many expected would be his "mission accomplished" moment, instead lay bare the wreckage of the whole misguided invasion.
For Mary Dejevsky, the only thing the rambling, 19-minute speech made clear is that it no longer matters when Trump leaves Iran alone – for the damage is well and truly done: "Much of the world was watching in the hope of receiving answers to their most pressing questions: when and on what terms might the Strait of Hormuz reopen to facilitate a normalisation of world trade? What would constitute victory for the United States? Why did you start a war with Iran?"
Tuesday's leader looked towards the possible endgames, and what might be next; American brute force has failed – so let's give diplomacy a chance. "A war that was supposed to be won in days, with the fall of the Iranian regime and transformative consequences for stability and peace in the Middle East, has been a miserable failure, worse than futile. No wonder Mr Trump is running away as fast as he can. "The rest of us – in what's left of the Western alliance – facing fuel shortages and a recession, are not quite so lucky. And, to borrow one of the president's well-worn phrases, we will remember." You can read the editorial in full here.
With the war ticking over into its second month, veteran defence editor Robert Fox said the dollar had finally dropped for Trump, who must now realise he has been played by Israel. A public spat between him and Benjamin Netanyahu was revealing: "In the fog of war now enveloping the Middle East, I fear the forces of Operation Roaring Lion and Epic Fury may be about to do just that – escalate their missions, and reinforce failure."
In the same way that the moon has a subtle but mood-affecting impact on life on Earth – a curious effect explored by Andrew Griffin in his peaen to its influence on the human imagination – so too does war make people do the craziest things. Since the Iran invasion, Charlotte Cripps, who, as a devotee of fortune-tellers and clairvoyants, admits that she is prone to random acts of lunacy, has become an unlikely but committed prepper. Stockpiling – or, "throwing random cans of tinned food into my supermarket trolley" – costs her £400 a week. But at least she's got "more than 70 tins of baked beans, lentils, black beans, sweetcorn, sardines, tomato soup and spaghetti hoops" in the larder. You know, just in case.
On the brighter side, Ben Judah reported on the extent to which Trump's flailing presidency has impacted upon Europe's populists. Rather than riding high, the hard right is falling apart, he concludes: "Across the continent, parties of the European left are winning. The right fell short in quick succession in France, Denmark and Italy. This matters not just because the right has hit a ceiling, but shown the left has found its formula to win in the age of Trump."
I hope that helps you have a happy Easter. Until next week.
0 comentários:
Postar um comentário