It is difficult to imagine a time past when the Western world was led by so many inadequate and morally bankrupt politicians. Perhaps during the First World War when historian Alan Clark referred to British soldiers as being “led by donkeys”.
The United States is led by a capricious narcissistic man-child, who since coming to office in January 2025 has trampled over international law and what used be called, somewhat disingenuously, the rules based order.
The legal framework and international institutions established after the horrors of World War Two have been discarded, and deemed irrelevant.
The current illegal attack on Iran by the US and Israel has thrown the Middle East into turmoil.
The American people have been left in the dark as to why this war is being prosecuted.
On February 27, the Omani mediator announced a breakthrough that would have seen Iran surrender its enriched uranium, and allow full and open inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, effectively preventing Iran ever building nuclear weapons.
The following day Israel and the US attacked, killing 185 schoolchildren in its first assault.
Many seasoned observers of Middle East politics see this as Netanyahu’s war, a prime minister currently indicted as a war criminal, with an outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
He has spent the last 40 years trying to persuade the US to go to war with Iran, finally succeeding with Trump.
The behaviour of Israel and the US under Trump will surprise no one.
We have watched a genocide unfold before our eyes in Gaza, involving the slaughter of tens of thousands of defenceless women and children, perpetrated by the Israeli military with American weaponry.
However, what is truly sickening is the tacit support and total absence of condemnation from the European Union, with the notable exception of
Spain.
Next week Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to the US to supplicate himself before a felon, a vainglorious bloviator, a man who is using the Presidency of the most powerful country in the world to financially benefit his own family.
No doubt, the Taoiseach’s supporters will say Mr Martin has no choice, that this is realpolitik. But there is always a choice. Appeasing bullies and tyrants rarely ends well.
The world is crying out for principled leadership with moral integrity.
We need adults, not fawning courtiers terrified of offending the emperor. Alas, we are unlikely to see such in the White House on March 17.
Yours,
Tomas McBride,
Wood Rd,
Letterkenny