A MONTH ago, all the talk in the United States was concentrated on effecting a regime change in Iran. The Ayatollahs were being painted as an ‘evil force’ and Tehran’s nuclear programme was touted as the biggest threat to humanity. The perception, rather made-up by the think-tank living in a fantasy land in the White House, led to an ill-timed, ill-conceived, and ill-thought Operation Epic Fury jointly launched by the US and Israel. It has, indeed, turned into an epic in modern warfare but more importantly, it has petered into Operation Epic Confusion for the man who went by his country’s illusionary ‘superpower’ status and stepped into his latest misadventure. Twenty-six days of resistance from a supposedly weak country has changed the script for Trump. The man who went public with his hatred for the Ayatollahs is now talking about a partnership with the same regime in Tehran to control the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

 

The inhibitions about the ‘evil force’ have sunk to the bottom of the Strait. The goalpost has changed, rather swiftly. Realisation of a folly has dawned upon Washington DC as its ostentatious officials are rushing to far-off lands to sit across the table for negotiations with Iran. Within a month, the idea of a ‘superpower’ has turned into an obsolete term in geopolitical nomenclature. In fact, the last few years have brought a humbling experience for all those flexing their military muscle against assumed minnows. Not only have the weaklings put up a sterling fight against the mighty but also have become the new Davids handing a humble pie to the so-called Goliaths. After Russia realised this with the unending war against Ukraine the US is now facing this truth, steeped in total confusion and frustration with no plan to exit. It is a deep quagmire that Donald Trump has walked into at the behest of a trigger-happy partner in Israel.

 

The latest military conflict is a lesson to the entire world and the so-called ‘superpowers’ about the changed reality. The ‘superpower’ status they believe in is, in fact, only a “major power” by virtue of their huge arms and armies and vast nuclear arsenal. It might have given them a belief of being impregnable but the thinking of ruling the world on this belief is nothing but a useless relic of World War II. Ukraine and Iran have proved that the rest of the world has taken its lessons from the past and moved on to build their own shields. Far away, little Taiwan is braving the hounding of the Chinese without batting an eyelid. The three “major powers” will have to live with this modern reality – stark and naked. From time to time, these powers have ended up with egg on their face with futile attempts to invade other countries. The Russian Red Army left licking its wounds from Afghanistan in the 1980s. The British met a similar fate in the torturous Afghani terrains. Later the United States wasted time, energy, men, machines and money in its effort to liberate the land. The ‘Graveyard of Empires’ remains unconquered, now ruled by its own people with a different ideology than the earlier regime. Similar wars of liberation started by the United States in Iraq, Libya, Syria have ended up badly, leaving those countries in a pathetic state.

 

In all these operations, the “superpowers” have been forced to pack up their formidable hardware and head home beaten, humbled, and sullied. The cost of these liberation wars is immense in every which term. The Iran experience is set to bite America pretty hard. Looking at the growing opposition back home, Trump will find it hard to justify this war. It is pretty clear that the US was sleepwalked into the war by Israel which has a clear and final agenda of ending Iran’s nuclear arsenal. There was no such goal for the US from a country declared “no imminent threat” by its own anti-terror unit chief in his report. The regime in Tehran was an adversary but not averse to a meaningful dialogue. Before the missile barrage hit Iran on February 28, representatives of the country were holding negotiations with the US officials in an Oman-brokered meeting.

 

The two sides were slated to meet to finalise a deal when bombs rattled Iranian cities. It was a dirty game by the US which, again, wrongly trusted its ‘superpower’ belief to force Iran into submission on all fronts. The Russia-Ukraine and now US-Iran war have shown that being a ‘superpower’ is not a guarantee of victory. Ukraine has continued its dogged resistance over Russia’s ephemeral ‘superpower’ might for three long years. The war seems stuck in a loop, tiring out both sides. Yet, there is reluctance to end it through a proper dialogue. The myth of being a ‘superpower’ still weighs heavily in Moscow. Fortunately, the hot-headed officials in Washington have at least warmed up to the idea of negotiations. Its success, however, will again depend upon the US President’s control over his whims. If the imperialist designs, which have dominated the American thinking all these years, prick Trump’s ego on slightest provocation then the talks are doomed. The lethal fall-out of this war should make the US go for sanity instead of using the one-trick pony of intimidation.

 

The trick has already been blunted by Iran’s resilient, unique and smart response. It would be wise if Trump and his cohorts look at the realisation encountered by former President John F Kennedy for following the ‘superpower’ myth during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. “The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought,” Kennedy had said. These words should ring loudly for all so-called ‘superpowers’.