The Middle Eastern war is now entering its third week. Despite the losses suffered by all parties involved, war usually shows its dynamics within three weeks. Incidentally, the United States and Israel have never been able to validate their moral position since the beginning of this war. In addition, the strategic insensitivity of the United States and Israel is now being exposed. After three weeks, it appears that this insensitivity may be the decisive factor in the war’s outcome.Even hours before the start of the war, the United States was holding talks with Iran under the mediation of Oman. Before the talks concluded, a unilateral attack had begun. Donald Trump’s eight-minute video at the beginning of the war was nothing but full of insensitivity. It flatly called Iran an enemy of America. It talked about destroying Iran’s nuclear and missile programme, and even more surprisingly, it incited the opposition in Iran to seize power in Tehran.In the first hours of the war, in addition to the targeted killing of the Supreme Leader of Iran, a girls’ school was also attacked with missiles, and children were killed. The United States lost its morals.

During the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, the United States took the UN Security Council or NATO with it. This time, it did not take any allies other than Israel with it, nor did it even discuss anything with them. Instead, Trump arrogantly said that including the so-called allies was neither necessary nor desirable.

The mindless madness did not end here. Like Saddam Hussein’s information minister, Saeed al-Sahhaf, Donald Trump is continuously making fabricated statements and supercilious, snobbish and inappropriate comments in his Truth Social and media interviews.

Last year, during the missile attacks and counterattacks between Iran and Israel, the threat to close the Strait of Hormuz appeared real. Almost all concerned are aware that control of the Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s greatest strategic strength. If Iran puts effective control on the Strait of Hormuz, it will be able to push the world economy into a crisis. Therefore, before attacking Iran, the United States must have thought about the possible closure of Hormuz and its consequences and had to settle on a strategy to deal with it. After three weeks, it is clear that the United States had no effective strategy for Hormuz. Who else then can be called mad? On the other hand, the Strait of Hormuz is now becoming an effective trump card for Iran.

If there is an intention to overthrow the government, troops have to be on the ground. As was the case in the Libyan invasion. As was the case in Iraq or Afghanistan. Neither the United States nor Israel has such a plan. Now it is heard that Israel does not have enough interceptors to destroy Iranian missiles. If the war lasts a long time, like Israel, other allied countries in the Middle East will also run out of missile interceptors. In such a case, if the intensity of Iranian missiles increases, it will be difficult to bring interceptors either from South Korea or any other places to deal with them.

Of course, these limitations are also valid for Iran. If it runs out of missiles or interceptors, it will also be in peril. In that case, Iran will have to rely on allies like Russia and China. The war is already putting pressure on Iran’s economy. Public life has also suffered. Only a sense of apparent victory in the war may temporarily calm public dissent.

The United States has now shamelessly called on its Western allies to send naval forces to control the Strait of Hormuz. However, the US Navy has expressed its reluctance to provide security to oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz because, it believes, any operation in the strait will be highly risky. During the initiation of the military campaign against Iran, the US has ignored its allies, except Israel. Trump humiliated even its allies by imposing unilateral tariffs in the past year and has hurt their dignity and caused disturbances when he said that he would be taking Greenland or making Canada a state of the United States. Now, when it is in trouble, the US is approaching those allies for a way out. The US, which was the net provider of security for many countries, including its Arab allies in the Middle East, has unilaterally engaged in war itself. This war in the Middle East, therefore, indicates something more than a war. Recently, Donald Trump threatened that the future of NATO will be ‘bad’. Donald Trump impressed the American voters in the last election. His ‘America First’ slogan had captured the hearts of US voters. But international politics cannot be mastered with such a hardcore nationalist gimmick. Foreign relations cannot be strengthened with such a lopsided stunt. America is alone in this war. Germany’s relations with Israel are very good. But this time, Germany itself is not coming forward for either the United States or for Israel. Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia have refused to send warships for confrontation. Only the Ukrainian president offered a missile defence technology, which was sarcastically turned down by the United States. Now, on the one hand, the United States has no partner in the Strait of Hormuz rescue operation, and on the other hand, the United States has lifted the embargo on Russian oil sales. As a result, Russia will enjoy leverage over Europe. Maybe Europe will now be compelled and encouraged to negotiate with Iran separately to obtain concessions for its own oil tankers.

The same situation will be in the case of the Middle Eastern countries that have been dependent on the US defence system for so long. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has threatened the oil exports of these countries. At the same time, since the US military installations are located in these countries, they are now direct targets of Iranian missile attacks. The Fujairah oil facility in the United Arab Emirates was outside the Hormuz trap. Iran has already attacked that facility twice. As a result, the UAE’s oil exports have also stopped. These countries are now seeking urgent peace talks. And they are also ready to make concessions in favour of Iran during those talks.

The US has many business interests in various countries in the Middle East. In addition to American investments and involvement in various contracts, it is estimated that around two to three lakh Americans are working in the Middle East. The fate of each of them is now uncertain.

However, these losses can be compensated. What cannot be compensated for is the decline in the global image of the United States. The US is gradually becoming isolated in the international system. At this stage of the war, the US has furthered its distance from its allies. If the Iranian government survives, the United States will have to pay a heavy price in the international board game. The United States may then be accused of war crimes. War is like a game to the mindless Donald Trump. In an interview, Trump even said that missile attacks are ‘fun’ for him. The cost of such mindlessness about war is high. Just as Trump will have to pay the price for it, it is unfortunate that, irrespective of the result of this war, the United States will also have to pay the price.