A New World? Hopes rise after Iran nuclear strikes
Perhaps this vision of true peace, security and cooperation may finally appear less distant.
Whatever one’s opinion of US President Donald Trump – and there are many – we cannot be anything other than grateful for his decision to bomb Fordow and other sites in the Islamic Republic’s nefarious nuclear weapons program.
This calculated gamble, in which the US and Israel were seemingly much more in step than anyone was led to believe, means the world is undoubtedly a safer place than it was just a week ago.
Of course, it would be foolish to dismiss the existence of any danger; the Iranian regime still has many ballistic missiles and other weapons in its stockpile, not to mention the possibility of sleeper cells in the West.
But Teheran’s nuclear program seems to be severely curtailed, perhaps fatally, while its supposed allies Russia, China and North Korea seemed disinterested in coming to its aid.
Iran’s lack of nuclear weapons will see its influence in the Middle East – already severely diminished by Israel’s successful campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah, plus the fall of the Assad regime in Syria – wane ever further.
A cherry on top would be to see the Iranian people rise up and topple the regime after almost five decades of tyranny.
We also hope that a new Middle East can rise from the ashes of Fordow; one where Israel and the Arab world work together for the benefit of all in the region. One where without Iranian backing, the Palestinians too embrace the benefits of dialogue and peace.
Long a dream, perhaps this vision of true peace, security and cooperation may finally appear less distant. But it could not have happened with Fordow left intact.
What a shame then that Australia had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the position of supporting the US strikes.
As Liberal Senator Dave Sharma said on Sunday, Australia isn’t even being kept in the loop anymore on major Five Eyes information, so haphazard and unreliable our foreign policy under the Albanese government has become.
The Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister need to realise, and quickly, that they are making decisions with consequences in a big, bad world, rather than playing university politics.
Because as Einat Wilf tells The AJN this week, there is doing good and there is feeling good, and they are not the same.