Is it the end of the humanistic order?

Humanism is dying an agonizing death in the pain-filled homes of Tehran and the rubble-strewn streets of Lebanon, as the US-Israel combine gets ready for a murderous assault on Iran, considered the crucible of civilization. In a touching move to prevent further destruction of its infrastructure including power plants, Iranian leaders have asked people to create human chains around these plants so that it will dissuade the attackers from wrecking their energy sources.

US President Donald Trump, who has made no secret of his megalomaniac ambitions, has warned that it will be the ‘end of civilization,’ maybe referring to the rich history of the Iranians, stretching back thousands of years. People across the word are watching with bated breath as Trump’s deadline to bomb Iran into submission approaches. They have seen enough killings with the Russia-Ukraine war stretching for three years with no end in sight; the war in Gaza where people are still dying, was enough of a warning that nations once known for their human rights record, no longer cared or were wary of interfering and inviting the wrath of the world’s only superpower.

The death toll in Gaza, has crossed 70,000 and there is no end to the misery of the war-scarred population or whatever remains of them, as they struggle to survive amid the wrecks of what were once their homes. With frantic efforts by some countries gripped by the oil-gas crisis to end the war, reportedly reaching nowhere, the Iran-Israel-US war is entering a sinister and dangerous zone in what is considered the energy hub of the world. Nations and their people are in the grip of untold suffering with galloping fuel prices and long queues before oil and gas stations, enough indication that the woes will only increase in the days to come if the war does not end soon.

And even if the guns stop booming, the impact of all that has been wrecked in the Middle-East, including crucial oil and gas production facilities, is going to be felt for a long, long time to come. Countries with more humanistic governments in place including the UK, France, Spain and Italy have already dissociated themselves from Trump’s campaign against Iran even leading to cracks in the powerful NATO. These countries have raised a pertinent question on why a sovereign nation like Iran was attacked in the first place. At this stage of the senseless war, what could turn the tide against any further hostilities is the pressure exerted by these countries and Trump’s allies in the Gulf region. The million dollar question is whether anyone can drum sense into a president, who has been hurling expletives and has made no secret of his war-mongering instincts.