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Middle East Eye
7 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
How Iran shattered the myth of Israeli strength
The 12-day war on Iran was unprecedented, unique in scope and seismic in implications. For the first time, Israel launched a war - not merely a limited operation - against a country it shares no border with, separated by at least 1,500 kilometres. More crucially, it marked the first time in history that the United States openly fought alongside Israel in a direct military assault. A moment long in the making - shaped by decades of alliance-building, joint training, coordination and collusion - finally arrived. And while it was staged as a grand display of overwhelming strength and strategic unity, what it revealed was far more damning: a portrait of fragility, dependency, and a power structure cracking under the weight of its own myth. A line was crossed. Israel has long relied on the scaffolding of western support: political, military and financial. Its capacity to act with force has always been tethered to the might of its sponsors. But apart from its collusion with Britain and France in the 1956 war against Egypt, it acted directly alone on the ground in its wars. What has changed is not the fact of dependency, but its exposure. No longer cloaked in euphemism or hidden behind closed-door diplomacy, that dependency now stands naked: unmistakable, undeniable. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In 1948, when former US President Harry Truman recognised the newly declared Zionist state within minutes of its announcement, he did so amid fierce divisions within his own administration, with some advisers warning of the long‑term consequences of establishing a settler‑colonial state in the heart of the Arab and Muslim world. In the ensuing years, Britain and France remained Israel's primary patrons, until the 1956 tripartite invasion of Egypt ended in a humiliating retreat under pressure from former US President Dwight Eisenhower, who threatened to sink the British economy unless they withdrew. The real pivot came under Lyndon Johnson, the first US president to provide Israel with offensive weaponry, over the objections of the State Department. From that point on, the alliance deepened. Washington was no longer just a sponsor; it became the indispensable shield and sword of the Israeli project. Illusion of autonomy In 1967, US arms enabled Israel to seize the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank and the Golan Heights in just six days. In 1973, when Egypt and Syria attempted to reclaim their occupied lands, former US President Richard Nixon ordered a massive resupply airlift, telling Henry Kissinger: 'Send everything that will fly.' And the weapons have never stopped flying. Still, despite this support, Washington drew a red line at direct military involvement. Even when Israeli and American interests were perfectly aligned, Israel was kept at arm's length. In 1991, as Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles struck Tel Aviv, former US President George H W Bush forbade Israeli retaliation, knowing it would fracture the Arab coalition that Washington had built. Again in 2003, when the US and UK invaded Iraq, Israel - despite the benefits it stood to gain - was sidelined. The war dismantled a regional rival, but American officials preserved the illusion of autonomy. Every time they pronounce the region subdued, it answers back: louder, wiser, stronger. Israel cannot win without the US. And the US can no longer win with Israel Until now. For the first time, the US has not just backed, funded or armed an Israeli war - it has fought it. Shoulder to shoulder, in the open, in full view of the world. What changed was not Israel's strength, but its deterioration. Since 7 October 2023, Israel has waged a genocidal campaign against Gaza, bombed Lebanon and Syria, and pushed the region towards a full-scale conflagration. It tried to cast itself as an invincible regional hegemon. But the illusion of self-reliance collapsed the moment Iran hit back. Israel could not do the job alone. It turned immediately to Washington, and Washington obeyed. We now know that the US and Israeli militaries had conducted joint exercises a year earlier to simulate an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. That rehearsal became reality. US President Donald Trump lavished praise on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Pentagon and the Israeli army struck in unison. No more fig leaves, no more choreography. Just the naked fact: Israel cannot fight its wars alone. Entrenching resistance In becoming totally dependent on the US under Trump, Israel has lost its place in the driving seat. Unlike 1967, when Israel claimed a solo victory and was hailed across the West, this time even the ceasefire was dictated by Washington. When Israel tried to escalate after the ceasefire began, it was stopped cold: its pilots ordered to turn back, its leadership publicly humiliated as the US president swore at them on camera. Dependency, it turns out, comes at the cost of sovereignty. What was framed as strength became a confession. Not triumph, but exposure. And the irony is stark. The more they strike, the more they entrench the very resistance they seek to extinguish. For centuries, this region has been invaded, divided and bombed - from Crusader knights to British generals, from French mandates to American missiles. Every time the West has declared victory, the region has risen again. Because resistance here is not a slogan. It is not a tactic. It is a civilisational inheritance. From anti-colonial revolts to liberation movements, from leftists to Islamists, from Sunnis to Shias, from Christians to Muslims - this region has forged a defiant culture. Its weapons have ranged from children's stones to long-range missiles threatening Tel Aviv. And still, it resists. Gaza, starving, surrounded, burning, continues to fight. Under siege and genocide, it still refuses to break. Hours after the Iran-Israel ceasefire was declared, seven Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza - a reminder to the world that the enclave's resistance continues in full force. Compare that to the collapse of three Arab armies in 1967 after six days, or the Palestine Liberation Organisation's evacuation from Beirut in 1982 after two months. What Gaza represents today is not just defiance; it is transformation. It is the evolution of resistance in the age of total war. Arab regimes might bow, normalise and suppress. But their people do not. Look into any Arab or Muslim street, and you will find the pulse still beating, the flame still burning. Every dream of submission has ended in smoke. Old consensus dying Now, cracks are forming at the heart of the empire. The old consensus is dying. Among Democrats, support for Palestinians has overtaken support for Israel. Among younger Republicans, the same shift is beginning. Even Trump's base is splitting. The victory of progressive Zohran Mamdani over staunch pro-Israel figure Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral primary was an earthquake - a warning sign. The backlash was so sharp, Trump himself rushed to end the war, telling Netanyahu the US would no longer be involved Trump's former strategist, Steve Bannon, put it bluntly, saying Netanyahu 'created this sense of urgency that doesn't exist … and did the salesman's upsell, we have to have regime change'. Addressing the Israeli prime minister directly, he said: 'Who are you to lecture the American people? The American people are not going to tolerate it.' Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed these sentiments: 'There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first … This is not our fight. Peace is the answer.' The backlash was so sharp, Trump himself rushed to end the war, telling Netanyahu the US would no longer be involved. This, despite a leaked intelligence report revealing that Iran's nuclear programme had only been set back by a few months. Within days, Trump pivoted from demanding Iran's 'unconditional surrender' to publicly thanking it. Conservative commentator Candace Owens, once firmly aligned with Trump, posted: 'First thing I've seen in awhile that has united his base is Trump talking trash about Israel on camera. It's just a fact that everyone worldwide has Israel-victim fatigue.' Israel-US attack on Iran: The price of Netanyahu's forever wars Read More » The myth of unconditional support is dead. What once united the empire now divides it. The recent operations might look like a peak in US-Israeli coordination. In reality, this marks a fracture. Trump's speech, proclaiming victory and partnership with Netanyahu, belongs in the archive of imperial delusion that has long haunted this region. It echoes French General Henri Gouraud standing over Saladin's grave in 1920: 'We are back, O Saladin.' It recalls British General Edmund Allenby in 1917 declaring the Crusades complete. It mirrors former US President George W Bush's smug 'Mission Accomplished.' Every time they pronounce the region subdued, it answers back: louder, wiser, stronger. Israel cannot win without the US. And the US can no longer win with Israel. This is not a triumph. It's an echo of every empire that mistook firepower for permanence. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Economist
7 days ago
- Politics
- Economist
Sex work in the gig economy
FOR DECADES Sweden was seen as the epitome of sexual freedom, so much so that President Dwight Eisenhower fulminated in 1960 that its people tended towards 'sin, nudity, drunkenness'. In 1971 it followed Denmark to become the second country in the world to legalise all forms of pornography. Yet Sweden has been altogether more prudish when it comes to prostitution, having originated the so-called Nordic Model in 1999, which criminalised the purchase of sex, but not its sale, with the intention of reducing demand while protecting vulnerable women. This model has since spread widely. In the past decade, France, Ireland, Israel and the American state of Maine have all adopted it; Scotland is considering it.
Daily Record
10-06-2025
- General
- Daily Record
US secret 'Dragon Lady' U-2 spy plane spotted flying at 60,000ft over Scotland
Famous aircraft, used for collecting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, was tracked looming about twice as high as commercial airliners A top-secret American spy plane has been spotted soaring at a height of 60,000ft over Scotland. The Lockheed U-2S 'Dragon Lady', utilised for intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance, was tracked flying about twice as high as commercial airliners. The aircraft operates round the clock to ensure global security, delivering high-level intelligence data for the US Air Force, CIA and NASA. Its Dragon Lady nickname originates from a 1930s' comic strip character from Terry and the Pirates. Plane enthusiasts across the UK identified the spy plane on global flight tracking service Flightradar24 as it flew over the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll and Bute. The aircraft is typically stationed at the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base in California, but is deployed on worldwide operations. The fleet regularly operates from RAF airbases, RAF Fairford in the UK and further afield from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. It was built during the Cold War to gather reconnaissance info on Soviet military operations through imagery, taking its maiden flight in July 1956, reports the Express. The aircraft is one of the longest-serving in the US military, flying from allied bases around the globe, including the aforementioned UK and Cyprus as well as France, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Pakistan, South Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Thailand and South Korea. The Dragon Lady is capable of reaching heights of 70,000 feet, with pilots donning full-pressure suits akin to astronauts to shield them from the harsh conditions at such high altitudes. Earlier this year in January, the craft was spotted soaring at 60,000ft above the Ayrshire coast en route to RAF Fairford. The U-2 found itself at the heart of one of the most fraught periods between the US and the Soviet Union when, in the 1960s, the spy plane was shot down over Russia. President Dwight Eisenhower, under the impression that pilot Gary Powers could not have survived, approved a cover story claiming it was a NASA aircraft that had gone astray. However, much to their embarrassment, the Soviets later disclosed that Powers was alive and had admitted to espionage (pilots were instructed if captured "to tell them everything that they knew", as they were given minimal information about their missions other than targets on maps). The wreckage of Powers's aircraft was utilised to create a replica named the Beriev S-13. This was subsequently abandoned in favour of the MiG-25R and reconnaissance satellites.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How Long Is Colorado's Eisenhower Tunnel (And Is It Safe To Drive Through)?
The Rocky Mountains form the spine of America, coming down from Canada and reaching south all the way to New Mexico. In the U.S., they're most imposing in Colorado, home to the highest peak and largest area of the range. That made driving across the Colorado Rockies difficult, with drivers having to navigate both the roads swerving around the (of course) rocky terrain and, in winter and even spring, the snow and the ice. So there was nothing else to do but drill a hole through it. In the 1950s, with President Dwight Eisenhower pushing the modern highway system as one of his signature domestic achievements, Colorado Gov. Edwin Johnson jumped on the federal willpower (and funding) for new routes to argue for a tunnel straight through the Rocky Mountains. In a feat of engineering that went way over schedule and over budget, two bores were blasted and drilled, one for westbound traffic, one for eastbound. Named, respectively, the Eisenhower Tunnel and the Johnson Tunnel (after the president and governor), this incredible system is a whopping 1.7 miles long (coincidentally, about as long as Elon Musk's Las Vegas tunnel), taking around two minutes to drive through in light traffic. As a mountain tunnel (the highest part of the whole U.S. highway network), it features relatively steep inclines on the way in and declines on the way out. It's also narrow, with no shoulders. Given all that, is it safe to drive through? Read more: These Are The Most Annoying Things About Your Cars There has never been a fatality in the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel. Accidents happen, of course, and in winter, snow and ice can make them more likely. While it's relatively rare -- around three times a year -- a vehicle might even catch fire in the enclosed space (though that issue has been declining across the country for 40 years). That's all bad enough, but the main issue is that there's no shoulder for emergency vehicles to use to reach the problem. To handle that, the tunnel has a metering system (essentially, traffic lights at the entrances, like some highway on-ramps have) that it can deploy in emergencies. That stops traffic while emergency vehicles, like the tunnel's fire crew, do what they need to do. The tunnel also has a fire suppression system throughout (including sprinklers). In addition, the system boasts 28 fans, each 10.5 feet in diameter, pumping in fresh air and pumping out exhaust fumes. This also, naturally, helps get fire smoke out of the tunnel when necessary. Without this massive HVAC system, the tunnel's air would be unbreathable. Given that the system's tunnels are inside a mountain range, where snow collects and then melts into rivers, it's not exactly shocking that lots of groundwater seeps into them. As water tends to do, that causes a lot of damage that has built up over time. If you drive through, you might notice crumbling walls and infrastructure. The state of Colorado is investing in long-term repairs to try to mitigate this issue, so for now at least, the overall structure ought to be safe to travel through. And it's important that travel does continue through the tunnels. In peak season, up to 50,000 vehicles can pass through in a single day, an economic value that the Colorado government estimates to be worth $2 million per hour. In fact, the glamorous resorts of the upper Rockies, such as Vail, only exist in their current form because of the tourism this tunnel enables. The Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, then, is a critical lifeline for the whole state. In other words, it's unlikely the authorities will simply let it decay into unuseability. Unless they'd rather just build new highways, of course. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
The Herald Scotland
07-06-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Historic photos show D-Day landings, turning point of WWII
The plan for the attack across the English Channel was put in motion at the Tehran Conference in 1943, where Allied leaders chose American general Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander for the operation. Omaha Beach, the second to the west of the five landing beaches, saw the bloodiest fighting of the battle, with American forces seeing 2,400 casualties - according to Encyclopedia Brittanica. The invasion marked the turning point in the European theater, as Paris would be liberated by the end of August, 1944 and Nazi Germany would surrender less than a year later, according to Here are historic photos from D-Day. See D-Day in historic photos From the USA TODAY Network: 'Welcome home': Iowan killed on D-Day to be buried on 81st anniversary of his death
