America and Iran started their new year in fitting style- with future threats of world shattering wars. Believed to use this as a distraction from the result of his own impeachment trial that is expected soon, while taking a casual break from golfing in Florida, President Donald Trump ordered a strike that killed Iran's most important military head- Major General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
The provocative action has created a total mess for American interests. Iran vowed retaliations and leaving the nuclear deal as more US troops have headed to the tense region. Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have urged Iran to reconsider its decision to effectively abandon 2015’s nuclear deal.
Trump declared his order of the deadly strike on Thursday, calling it a step to "stop a war." But fears are that it is only matter of hours to start a new conflict, as Iran vows to avenge Soleimani’s untimely death in the hands of an ‘impulsive’ Donald Trump. The question therefore asked repeatedly, “why did Trump recourse to killing Soleimani now?” Sixteen years after Saddam Hussein, that proved of poor intelligence by US, judgement, and inadequate influence over the government in Baghdad, it is time for the US to wake up and smell the coffee.
The issue is not simply of prophecies of war, but as Simon Jenkins in an article in the Guardian wrote, America’s threat to destroy the sites of ancient Persia should send a shiver down the spine of any civilised person.
He very rightly asked how could American bombing of Persepolis or the mosques of Isfahan be justified, as someone even with no sense could see them as not 'threatening America'! It is on the same ethical plane as the Islamic State vandalism of Palmyra and Mosul.
The destruction of cultural artefacts in wars has been specially outlawed by the Hague convention of 1954 and subsequent protocols. It is the same as genocide or ethnic cleansing by chemical weapons or strategic bombing of civilians. It is beyond fathomable human behaviour. The US does not recognise many of the treaties, as it concedes extraterritorial sovereignty, but it usually obeys these laws. Modern weaponry is forgetting ethics, and making a serious mockery of the legality of war. For example the drone. It has turned the onscreen war game, that teenagers get addicted to, into an adult life reality.
The deepening fallout over Iran renewed a focus on Trump's careless leadership style and the question of how carefully he had considered the consequences of the attack. The administration does not want to give even a sneak peek into the intelligence that led to attack Soleimani.
Democrats in Congress, have said they were not consulted in advance and that the White House has only offered a classified explanation of its action, called on Trump to declassify the formal notification given to Congress about the attack. Though Raab said the UK government was “sympathetic” to Washington’s situation, but added that he had spoken to the Iraqi president and prime minister and French and German counterparts since the assassination, and Britain’s focus had been on restoring calm, and protecting its troops and citizens in the region. The allies are maintaining safe distance, even while supporting Trump, as clearly none of them were consulted.
There is also no obvious sign of a long-term strategy to cool off Iranian retaliations. Trump's increasingly hostile, aggressive and unnecessary tweets are fanning the fire. But the administration keeps insisting it does not want a war with Iran, and claims it is not seeking regime change after elimination of Soleimani, the most powerful Iranian leader barring Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
This incident is also an example of a widening dispute between the House and the Senate over the shape of Trump’s impeachment trial. The damaging new revelations strengthen the case further that the President did abuse his power. The showdown with Iran is deepening and it’s another crisis caused by Trump's disruptive and impulsive choices- his impeachment over his demand for political favours from Ukraine. This truly tests the national unity on US soil.
New Year’s Honours List 2020 raise questions
The New Year’s Honours List 2020, published on Saturday 28 December, recognises the outstanding achievements of people across the United Kingdom, including that of Asian-origin. 9.1% of the people are from BAME community. 11% of the successful candidates consider themselves to have a disability and 3.3% of recipients identified as being LGBTQ+.
51% of the recipients in the New Year’s Honours List 2020 are women, including 44% awarded at the highest levels. However none from the South Asian community have been knighted, or been awarded Damehood. It’s surprising for a country where 3.08mn people are of South Asian origin, which is 4.9% of the total population.
The New Year’s Honours list includes leaders and pioneers from all fields. The list also celebrates a range of extraordinary young people across the UK. To mark the start of the World Health Organisation’s ‘Year of the Nurse and Midwife’ in 2020, twelve nurses and five midwives who have dedicated their lives to helping others and improving healthcare in the UK receive honours at OBE, MBE and BEM level.
This Honours List continues to demonstrate the breadth of service rendered by people from all backgrounds from all across the UK. In total 1,097 people have received an award, out of which 72% of the recipients are people who have undertaken outstanding work in their communities either in a voluntary or paid capacity.
This Honours List also includes inspirational people who have dedicated their lives to Holocaust and genocide remembrance and education, sharing their stories with schoolchildren around the UK. As survivors, they have demonstrated extraordinary personal resilience and commitment, championing tolerance and diversity, and playing a vital role in ensuring future generations continue to learn from the past.
The New Year’s Honours List while has many people listed from London this year, raised eyebrows when Ross McEwan, successor of the former controversial RBS boss Fred Goodwin was honoured with a CBE. Goodwin was stripped of knighthood by the Queen in 2012, joining the late, former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, and Soviet spy Anthony Blunt, among the dubious ranks of those relieved of their honours. The Daily Telegraph also criticised the honour’s system and said that it’s a bit odd that none of the luminaries on the honours committee thought even once before awarding Goodwin’s successor Ross McEwan with a CBE.
Of course McEwan did a decent job to clean-up during his five year tenure, before moving on from RBS. The bank returned to profit, the government’s stake was cut to 62 percent and some grave and historical misdemeanours like the mis-selling of mortgage in the US was resolved. All perfectly commendable, but he was doing the job for which he was hired after Goodwin- to lead the bank and its reputation to ‘light’. To bestow that person with an honour, seems a bit too far fetched and if we may say, perhaps even ‘devaluing' of the award system.
On the other hand, in a sheer blunder by the Cabinet Office, counter-terrorism officers, politicians and celebrities are among more than 1,000 New Year’s Honours recipients who have had their home addresses revealed by the Government. The Cabinet Office apologised after a spreadsheet containing the personal details was accidentally posted online for more than an hour. It is understood that most of the entries on the spreadsheet included full addresses with house numbers and postcodes.
The fact that the list included details of senior police officers and Ministry of Defence staff has been seen as a major security breach. Police officers are therefore to be given extra security, amid warnings that some of those affected by the blunder may have to move home.
If it is found to have broken data rules the Cabinet Office, which is responsible for the UK's National Cyber Security Strategy, could face a fine of up to £17million.
