It is sheer madness to capture the president of a sovereign country and kill the Shia cleric and supreme leader of another. While a military operation was carried out by the United States of America (USA) to abduct Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, a precision attack jointly conducted by the US and Israel based on information from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran. Such abduction and killing of the president of a country and the supreme leader of another country respectively are a blatant violation of the United Nations (UN) charter. But the man who has orchestrated such attacks could not care less if his actions subject him liable to a trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Indeed, Donald Trump, the incumbent US president, could not hold the UN and its charter along with other international institutions and treaties more in contempt. Only his words are laws.
Where will Trump's incursion stop? In June last year he and his ally Israel attacked the nuclear facilities in Iran. At the time he boasted that Iran's capacity for developing nuclear warheads was eliminated. If that is so, why are there the fresh attacks to obliterate Israel's 'existential' threat? This time the bombing campaign was launched just at the time negotiations for de-escalation of the explosive situation was going on in Geneva with Oman acting as an intermediary. Unless the man in the White House is stopped, he may end up doing incalculable harm to human civilisation. He has already done enough harm to the international order of both politics and economy. Although he has backtracked from overtaking Greenland, he has threatened to take over Cuba. At least 11 countries from Colombia to Canada, from Nicaragua to Nigeria, from Mexico to Syria and from Nigeria to Panama have come under his threat. For months he teased with Canada that he won't mind annexing it as its 51st state.
He sounds more like a bully than the president of the most powerful nation on the planet. Less than a quarter of the Americans now endorse his plan and policies. But he has been elected president by their votes. Without impeachment he cannot be removed. Richard Nixon was impeached for Watergate cover-up. The charges were obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of the Congress. Trump appears to have committed the second and third offences. But the uncalled for military campaigns against other sovereign nations, which have killed even innocent school children, should be considered the gravest of all crimes.
Now the repercussions of the Iran war is proving highly costly even for Bangladesh. Already one Bangladeshi worker is killed and four others injured in the Iranian retaliatory attacks. Flights have been cancelled in the Middle East and the safety of migrant workers has become a serious concern. Closure of the Hormuz Straits, an important route for international trade and oil supply may prove a serious blow to economies of countries on distant shores. Already in crisis of energy, Bangladesh may be one of the worst hit. So the twin dangers to life of migrant workers in the ME and fuel supply may take a heavy toll on this country's economy.
