Gaza might be the place under pressure and on fire but the world is missing the warning lights flashing through out the Middle-East.
USA deemed to be the super-power of the world has sent military assets to every war-affected ally. Be it Ukraine or the allies in Middle-East like Israel. The U.S. sent two aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean to dissuade Iran and its allies, Syria and Hezbollah, from opening new fronts against Israel. Two thousand U.S. marines are on high alert to be deployed to the region.
US President Joe Biden stood in solidarity with Israel against Gaza. He urged the Israeli leaders to stand their ground and not lose motivation. The American President also promised that he would send billions of dollars worth in aids to Israel.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 18. (AP)
It all boils down to one and only point. The USA is rapidly moving towards the point where the super-power would have no choice but to get fully involved in the war. America has been struggling to find common grounds and stop the war. USA has its soldiers present in the dangerous terrains of the Middle-East. The vulnerabilities of getting exposed during the war increases the major possibility of another war raging against America.
Regional Rivalries
The American forces are present in various parts of Syria, a country which has Bashar-Al-Assad’s army and Russian forces present. Gradually, if anything goes south USA ends getting under direct conflict with Russia. Israel regularly bombs targets in Syria. More recently, it is believed, it attacked the airports of Aleppo and Damascus, with the aim of preventing Iran from carrying weapons and ammunition. One has to think if Israel ends up getting in a skirmish with Syria; what does the USA do?
The USA has also deployed its troops in Iraq. The islamic country has numerous number of militia supported and provoked by Iran. These militias are prepared and hardened for war. They operate away from the Baghdadi governance.
Despite decades of draconian sanctions on Iran; they have managed to make a sophisticated series of dangerous weaponries. Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (CGRI) has acquired valuable combat experience in Syria and Iraq. It provided training and weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, the Syrian regime, Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Following the assassination, in January 2020, of CGRI commander Qassem Soleimani, by the U.S., Iran managed to fire a salvage of missiles at an American base in neighbouring Iraq. And although it costs thousands of dollars to transport a U.S. soldier or Marine to the Middle East, a bus trip is enough for an IRGC soldier to get to Baghdad, Damascus or Beirut.
The USA have invested trillions of dollars in their army but their constant failures in Afghanistan and Vietnam have proved that the super-power cannot guarantee peace. Despite having soldiers deployed in almost every Middle-East country, America have fallen short of prevailing justice or finding friendly solutions.
Protests against Israel and the USA
As the war takes shape in Gaza, the Arab world is full of outrage. In Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Iran, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt and elsewhere, protests have emerged against Israel, but much of the anger is also directed against Israel’s most vocal, persistent and generous supporter, the United States. People have blamed USA of these in-humanitarian war hysteria. United Nations (UN) which was formed with the sole intention of prevention of any future war has miserably failed in performing its duty.
King Abdullah of Jordan, Washington’s most cooperative Arab friend, canceled the scheduled summit with President Biden in Amman following the deadly explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital. There is no doubt that he and the other participants of the summit, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, would not like to be seen side by side with an American leader who so passionately embraced Israel as the death toll in Gaza increased. The U.S. can still count on allies among the autocrats of the region. On the streets, the situation is quite different. Anger was potentiated following a deadly explosion that destroyed the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, killing hundreds of people. Palestinian authorities accuse Israel of attacking the hospital. Israel denies it. Meeting in Cairo on Thursday, President Sisi and King Abdullah issued a joint statement warning that “if the war does not stop and does not expand, it threatens to plunge the entire region into a catastrophe”.
President Sisi & King Abdullah in Cairo, Egypt
On the war front it is nothing less than frightening. The military wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad occasionally fire rocket hail on Israel. The Israelis counterattack, targeting what they say is Hezbollah’s military infrastructure. Combatants and civilians have been killed and wounded on both sides. The American aircraft carriers that are on the horizon are there to dissuade Iran, Hezbollah and others from going too far. If they do, and the US responds, then things will escalate for everyone involved.
United States of America have indeed gotten themselves in an awkward position. Singular move goes south and the world proceeds towards more-serious tensions. Middle-East war is a result of all the acts and atrocities committed by the USA be it Syria or Iraq. While the world ponders on the ultimate result of this dangerous war, America has an even bigger to struggle to cope with. Is it time for the world to entrust themselves in another emerging world-powers?
