Last week, the Israelis ignored the advice from Joe Biden and David Cameron to call off their quarrel with the Iranians over an abstraction called deterrence. Or at least they pretended to ignore it. Simon Tisdall has compared their performance to a code duello in that nobody died and the sacred honour of the antagonists was upheld. Maybe he has a point. But sometimes the duellist doesn’t miss. Actually, it’s beside the point. Yesterday the American war party voted in favour of another military gift to Israel amounting to $26 billion, along with $61 billion for Ukraine and additional billions for Taiwan and other East Asian ‘partners’. It also voted to confiscate Russian assets, and even for a ban on Tik Tok. The end of Western civilisation (to quote the Israeli prime minister, echoed by the Ukrainian president) did not happen on Capitol Hill. Maybe the next shot, drone, or missile won’t miss; but for now Mr Biden and his friends should take their own advice. Enjoy your victory. Then get serious – finally – about negotiating an end to two perverse, unnecessary, and very expensive wars. Talleyrand is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Talleyrand that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. © 2024 Talleyrand |