West's imperial arrogance takes propaganda to farcical levels

The National

5 days ago

Those old enough will remember this well in the lead-up to and during the Iraq War – the flashing graphics, the rising excitement and the maps showing where the carnage was about to erupt.
At no point is the jingoism higher. Across all platforms, from Fox News to CNN, you will find a well-manicured presenter waxing lyrical about the 'Fordow nuclear site buried deep into a mountain'. As if they had any clue about what this was, or even the slightest knowledge the word 'Fordow' existed before the last few days.
Now they are experts, but more than that, they are equipped with the ability to make sweeping moral judgments as if they were holy writs. This is the line, and if you deviate from it, you are suspect.
READ MORE: Iran announces it has attacked US forces stationed at air base in Qatar
This, of course, is not news. It's propaganda. We go from increasingly critical coverage of the Gaza genocide, to a new and sudden reality. Yes, what is happening to the Palestinians is bad, but Iran must not 'get the bomb'.
That is the starting point for the discussion. Everything else must be pushed to one side for this to dominate the airwaves and set the parameters for what is right and wrong. As if Iran is a Bond villain and not a country with thousands of years of history, 92 million people and a place at the pulsing heart of global trade.
But not only do they want a bomb, they are going to immediately set it off in Israel – despite the fact they themselves would be incinerated within an hour of doing so.
Rationality is not possible for any other nation outside of the West, you understand. It is we who are the most advanced, the most democratic and the most reasonable.
Yes, Ted Cruz – a lead proponent for war with Iran and a US senator– doesn't know the population of the country he wants to set alight. But that doesn't matter: he is an American and his name is Ted. Let's get back to those parameters. You are allowed to give an opinion on whether Iran should have 'the bomb', as long as the answer is no.
(Image: Kayla Bartkowski, Getty Images)
But don't try to get into any of the wider context. That is a cardinal sin, as it might open up an avenue of critical thought. And critical thought is not to be encouraged. In the case of Iran, the immediate backdrop could not be more stark.
As it was about to embark on a new round of diplomatic talks with the United States, in a matter of mere days, Israel assassinated Iran's lead negotiators and blew up a war. It just had to be done.
They were simply too close to getting nuclear warheads in place and launching them. Despite the fact that no intelligence briefing states this – indeed, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that they could not affirm that there was 'any systematic effort' by Iran to manufacture a nuke.
But forget all of that, and don't ask too many questions about why the world should accept a state committing an active genocide should also be forgiven for killing – literally, not metaphorically – via diplomatic talks. You don't support Iran, do you?
Some took the mental gymnastics to Olympian levels. After the stealth bombers unleashed their payload, France, Germany and Britain released a joint statement. Bizarrely, the thrust of their intervention was to urge Iran 'back to the negotiating table'. No, you are not going mad.
Yes, they were at said table. Yes, Israel then obliterated said table. Yes, the US conducted airstrikes, in violation of the United Nations charter. But the key point is that Iran returns to the talks. Naturally, accepting this framing of events necessarily relieves one of any intellectual self-respect they may once have had.
So it is fitting that such nonsense is regurgitated by talking heads and politicians who dispensed with any such thing long ago in the name of career advancement.
But the vast majority of the population – who according to polls want nothing to do with a war on Iran – are not so easily swayed by such evident absurdity.
And all the while, Gaza continues to starve. It is not only that Famine is being utilised as a weapon, as is aid. Every day there are new atrocities with people being shot, maimed and killed in the search for a bag of flour.
Yet it is the state responsible for this that simply must have our unconditional support. It is standing between western civilisation and oblivion. Or, in the words of Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz, they are 'doing our dirty work'.
So cast aside the bodies of more than tens of thousands – or more – tens of thousands of dead Palestinians. Compartmentalise the deliberate humiliation they are being forced to endure. Deny the genocide. Don't you get it: Iran must not get the bomb. And what's more, we will pontificate about this not just on news programmes, we will also do it on frothy breakfast television, interspersed with travel advice in case your holiday to Turkey or Cyprus might be affected.
We might even publish a wanted war criminal, complete with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, in our pages to promote yet more war, like The Times did with former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.
When all is said and done, this is nothing more than the old-school colonial mindset: one rule for them, one for us. And if those on the receiving end of mass death and torture are brown-skinned, we can move that down the agenda for a while longer.
Except there is a problem. There is, alongside this choir of ignorance and imperial arrogance, a mass awakening taking place. People are not buying it; they are not drinking the Kool Aid. As our political leaders detach from reality at something approaching escape velocity, they lose grip over the ability to lie us into another war.
The world is in a dark place but times are changing. Simply put, the people have had enough.