Waking in Washington to find the ceasefire he had brokered the night before had been violated by both sides, Trump told the media: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
That was Donald Trump on Tuesday blasting at Israel and Iran for not immediately honoring the ceasefire that he had brokered, announced, declared, ordered Monday night. Which got me wondering if Trump himself knows what the fuck he’s doing, happily doing the heavy bombing for Israel in its war with Iran, a chance to show off those mighty macho 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator “bunker buster” bombs, but to what end? Make sure Iran never gets to produce nuclear weapons? But why is it bawal for Iran but not bawal for Russia, the U.S., China, France, UK, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea? Kasi daw “terrorist” ang Iran. Pero di ba terrorist din silang lahat, frightening each other and the world with their nuclear weapons?
So today, Wednesday, the first item on my news feed is New York Post‘s “Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize over Israel-Iran cease-fire”.
In a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) recommended Trump for the prestigious prize “in recognition of his extraordinary and historic role in brokering an end to the armed conflict between Israel and Iran and preventing the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet.”
Hmm. Did Trump agree to help out Israel with the proviso that all attacks would stop the moment he said stop! so that he could proclaim himself the great peacemaker of all time, even when he is nothing of the kind, and certainly not deserving of a Nobel? Will the ceasefire even hold? For good? Is it all just for show, to best Obama?
Unless, of course, he manages to take it farther, higher, and prevails on his BFF Bibi Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza and the West Bank, and to go for a two-state solution with Palestine. For real. For good. THAT would be Nobel-worthy. Bless Trump. Hallelujah Trump.
RANDY DAVID: “Ironies in the Iran-Israel conflict”
Irony #4: While Iran’s nuclear activities have been under intense international surveillance, Israel’s own nuclear capability has remained opaque and untouched. Israel is one of only five countries that have never signed the NPT—the others being India, Pakistan, North Korea and South Sudan. This refusal exempts Israel from IAEA inspections.
Yet, it is widely believed that Israel possesses nuclear weapons. As reported by Sam Mednick in a June 23 article for the Associated Press, “Israel has been believed to be the Middle East’s only nation with nuclear weapons, even though its leaders have refused to confirm or deny their existence.” Independent estimates suggest Israel has at least 80 warheads and delivery systems capable of hitting targets up to 6,500 kilometers away.
Ironies like these abound because the global system lacks an effective central political authority to enforce norms. In such a world, the familiar realist maxim holds sway: there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends—perhaps not even permanent interests, only shifting calculations of power and survival.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/184255/ironies-in-the-iran-israel-conflict
BEN KRITZ: “They are all rogue states”
But how is it that some countries with nuclear weapons — in this case, primarily the US and Israel — can demand that any other country desist from having their own? Israel is an especially hypocritical actor; it has pursued its nuclear program in exactly the same opaque and secretive manner as Iran, and has a stockpile of between 40 and 90 warheads. No one knows for sure, because Israel has never admitted having them.
The inescapable conclusion is that they are all rogue states: any nation with nuclear weapons — the US, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea and, in the near future, Iran — has the power to spark a conflagration that will render humanity extinct, and the only thing holding that power in check is the judgment of people, and in most of those countries, a single person. This cannot be, and the terrifying reality that we have to hold our breaths and wait to see what the whim of the American madman will dictate should make it crystal clear that it cannot be. The only thing that would make it clearer is if he actually drops the damn bomb and starts World War III.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/06/29/opinion/columns/they-are-all-rogue-states/2139965