I was all set to put this issue to bed on Monday night. I had just finished a longish essay on the US bombing of Iran when, almost as if it was done to spite me, Trump announced that the “war” had come to an end. The Iranians and the Israelis had agreed to a cease-fire, followed by negotiations for peace – after just 12 days.
The second sentence of that essay was: “This wasn’t just a minor step up in US support of Israel, this was – in so many ways – insane!”
“Insane” was not the perfect word, but anything else I thought of sounded bloodless and analytical.
I don’t think I was the only one struggling for words, which means, of course, struggling for coherent thoughts that conveyed my response to this surprising-if-not-astonishing action.
One part of my brain – the one that has been working out ideas I’ve been forming on culture – felt good about it. That brain believes that all cultures are not equal, neither in how they serve those who take part in them nor in respect to any universal moral standard.
Another part of my brain – the one that grows too quickly weary of comfort, lacks the discriminatory power to assess risk, and is always looking for adventure – was excited. No, it was more than excited. It was nothing short of thrilled to be alive at this moment – at the threshold of extinction!
A third part of my brain – the one that wants to present itself well – had been working furiously since the bombing, trying to make sense of what we (the US military) had done and what the effect of it would be.
In the main essay below, aside from updating a few facts, I’ve reprinted most of what I wrote on Monday almost entirely as I wrote it because (a) most of the questions I was trying to answer are still unanswered, and (b) some of the speculations I made about what the bombings could bring about did in fact come about.
I’m also including a few extra bits that I hope you will enjoy, including a unique profit-making opportunity (in the “Building Wealth” section) and a profile of NYC’s new mayor.
Correction: In the last issue, I mistakenly said that Benjamin Cañas, the brilliant Central American surrealist, was Guatemalan. Wrong! Though he was born in Honduras, he grew up in El Salvador and is considered to be Salvadoran. (I knew that! What was I thinking?)
