This is the image that will define this war - 165 young Iranian girls, killed while at school, who are mere ‘collateral damage’ to an out of control US-Israeli war machine.
Many of us had warned this would happen — an attack on Iran would spark a regional war. In June 2025, Iran’s controlled escalation targeted only Israel in retaliation. This time, Iran has regionalised its retaliation, with two key objectives — inflict maximum damage on the U.S. and tell the frontline allies that American protection is nonexistent or futile during wars. Look at the region now. Three U.S. aircraft are down (apparently by “friendly fire”); Kuwait and Qatar bases were hit; Kuwait embassy was hit; the UAE is using all their interception powers to shoot down projectiles; so does the Saudis; Bahrain is hit; militias in Iraq target Erbil; Hezbollah opens a new front from southern Lebanon; Israel takes impacts every day — and this is happening despite repeated American Israeli bombing of Iran.
Repeating: many of us had warned this would happen. But the war party was so confident and drunk in their own might that they would take a quick and decisive victory. Trump wanted to resuscitate something that’s dead — unipolarity. And now, he’s in a huge mess. He has to take the losses and keep fighting without clearly defined and attainable objectives.
—If the war prolongs and if Iran survives, I won’t be surprised if the Russians send resupplies to Iran.
“Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate.”
— Edward W. Said