Philippe Gélie's Editorial: 'Israel-Iran, War And Peace According To Donald Trump'
The U.S. president's peace plan feels more sleight of hand than statesmanship.
Civilization has taken a strange path between the two thousand pages of Leo Tolstoy and Donald Trump's tweets. Today, war and peace are declared in a few concise sentences printed in capital letters. The president of the world's leading power seems convinced that he can bend reality to his will — even the most brutal reality, that of war.
The ceasefire, pulled out from under his red MAGA hat on the night of Monday to Tuesday, encountered a few hiccups at the start, but appears to be successfully enforced now that the master of the game has expressed his wrath against any violation.
It should be noted that, since his transformation into a 'peacemaker,' Trump has treated Israel and Iran as strictly equals, alternately promising them 'love, peace, and prosperity' or facing his wrath if they 'stray from the road of truth and righteousness.'
This development marks an unexpected decline in Israel's strategic advantage: only the day before, the warlord who felt triumphant after massive airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites floated the idea of a regime change in Tehran, using the slogan 'Make Iran Great Again, MIGA!'
In the era of Donald Trump, slogans accompany battles, and can even influence their outcome. While the region seemed on the brink of escalation Monday evening, the American president fortunately declared that the Iranian response was merely formal, going so far as to thank the mullahs' regime for warning him.
In the process, Trump announced the strangest of ceasefires, in which he said one of the parties had agreed to endure enemy fire for 12 hours without flinching. All this to end the conflict within the deadline imposed by its new name: the 'Twelve-Day War,' as a reference, of course, to Israel's victory over the Arab armies in 1967 during the Six-Day War.
This peace negotiation looks a little bit like a magic trick: Is the Iranian nuclear issue resolved or merely glossed over? No one knows — not even Trump — what long-term results his quick fixes will yield. This criterion carries little weight compared to publicity stunts and instant celebrations. But, in the real world, it could come back to haunt us.
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