WAR

 

By Christopher Ryan Maboloc, PhD 

US President Donald Trump ordered his B2 Stealth bombers to drop 30k lbs GBU57 bunker busters in three Iranian nuclear facilities - Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan. No person was happier than Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Trump mentioned in his speech, "Peace through strength," Netanyahu said. The US President was telling Iran to surrender, or in short, abandon its nuclear enrichment program, warning the regime of the risk of more action. Iran was quick in its retort, saying there's no damage to its nuclear ambitions because much of the materials have already been evacuated.

Analysts say that the action of the US will not stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In fact, Trump is giving Iran more reasons to find the means to arm itself with the most destructive weapon known to man, asserting its right to protect itself against all forms of aggression in the future. If anything, this will only cause a pause in its nuclear program. In this regard, the involvement of the United States and the actions of Israel have only made the Middle East the most dangerous region now primed for a nuclear holocaust. 

Indeed, Israel began its campaign in Iran last week but needed US support since it does not have the ordinance that can penetrate Iran's nuclear facility in Fordo, which was buried deep beneath the mountains. The bombs dropped by US B2 bombers can penetrate up to 200 feet of concrete reinforcement buried 60 meters beneath the surface. Reports say that a dozen of such bombs were dropped, the most powerful non-nuclear weapon to date, plus 30 ballistic missiles from the US fleet that was positioned in the Middle East earlier on orders of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

European leaders did not agree with Trump. Netanyahu however was banking on the support of the US leader, who gave Iran two weeks. Apparently, he ordered the mission without notice to the world or his allies. It is reported that Trump listens to his most important man in the cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Iran fired more than 300 missiles and released hundreds of drones into Israel, most of which have been intercepted by its Iron Dome or its missile defense system. Iran has reported more than 400 fatalities while Israel said 24 civilians have perished since the conflict started last week. 

Israel and Iran are sworn enemies. Iran has promised to wipe out Israel from the map. Iran's Supreme leader the Ayatolah Khomeni, in power for almost 30 years, has said that Israel's actions are a declaration of war. With Trump's decision, which Netanyahu praised in his latest speech, the US has officially entered the conflict in the Middle East without the declaration of war. It has supplied armaments and munitions to Israel in the Gaza conflict. More than 50,000 civilians, including women and children have died. Israel started its war against the Palestinian people after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and taking 200 hostages.

Israel is fighting a war on many fronts against what it considers as Iranian proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houties in Yemen, and Hamas in Palestine. Israel accused Iran of being a terrorist state that gives support to terrorist organizations. Israel says that Iran should not be allowed to make nuclear weapons. Trump believes that with the US intervention in the Middle East, he has decimated if not totally obliterated Iran's nuclear program. The Mossad has assassinated at least six Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years. 

In an International Press Conference in Istanbul following the attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that the the action of the United States violates International Law. He condemned the US attack on his country's nuclear facilities. He said that the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty failed to protect Iran. "President Trump promised to end all wars but he betrayed the world and the American voters," said Araghchi, who stated that his country reserves the right to defend its sovereignty against the US and Israeli aggression. 

Iran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes although US intelligence is saying that its uranium enrichment has reached up to 60%. What the US is doing is to send a message not only to Iran but also to its other enemies. Without air power, Iran was an easy target. The same cannot be said though when it comes to the other enemies of the US - Russia, China, and North Korea, all of which are nuclear states. In fact, among its war fronts, this was the easiest for the US. The Taiwan Strait, God forbid, would be the hardest and most devastating for all players if diplomacy, just like in Ukraine, fails. 

Diplomacy failed on European soil because Russia is different. Putin has been reluctant to heed the call of Trump for a ceasefire. The US supplies Ukraine with weapons through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) but beyond that, it can't do anything to stop Putin. Kim Jung Un continues to test his ballistic missiles and China has kept its stance, stating that it intends to reunite Taiwan with the mainland by violent means if necessary. This war hence is not about Iran and its proxies. Gaza, Ukraine, and if parties are not careful, the Pacific are merely the theaters of war, modern conflicts fought by states against each other with no foreseeable goal or ending. 

The Middle East is important to the US not only because of its oil but more so in terms of the position of the US in the global hegemonic order. It is for this reason that it is flexing its muscle, as if to tell other Middle Eastern countries that they can rely on the US for support if they would choose to be a friend or ally. America of course has remained the biggest arms contractor in the world, supplying countries such as Saudi Arabia with hundreds of billions worth of military hardware and warplanes. In 2024, US arms sales reached 318 billion dollars. 

The Pentagon has an annual budget of more than 700 billion dollars, money spent to keep US military forces around the world, including those positioned in the 38th parallel in the Korean peninsula. America spent trillions of dollars in its global campaigns to protect its national interest. Yet, it failed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction. It meant that that Iraqi conflict was due to a lie. The Taliban took back Afghanistan in just one week after the last US serviceman left. The US occupied that country for 20 years. But they didn't find Osama bin Laden there, the mastermind of 9/11. Bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces in a raid at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.