Patrick Cockburn

US attacks in Iran and the Caribbean are portrayed as emblematic of a broader moral collapse in American power under Donald Trump, intensified by the actions of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and deep cuts to civilian harm mitigation. Israeli military operations in Gaza and the Biden administration’s support for them are framed as further evidence of Western abandonment of human rights. Keir Starmer’s stance on Israel is depicted as politically and morally damaging, contrasted with Andy Burnham’s recent apology. Military procurement failures, particularly the British Army’s Ajax vehicle, illustrate systemic dysfunction. The article concludes that both the US-Israel war against Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have reached stalemate, leaving political rather than military outcomes as the decisive factor.