Marching orders: From Gaza to Tehran and LA
The US Army's 250th birthday parade in Washington DC on June 14. — Reuters
LOS Angeles was ablaze with climate catastrophe-related fires when US president Donald Trump took oath in January. Now he is fanning another variety of flames by deploying the National Guard and Marines against the wishes of the city and state authorities, and threatening California's governor with arrest – albeit not, so far, deportation to El Salvador or Djibouti.
The LA protests sprang from outrageous raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency at workplaces and schools, as Angelenos faced the prospect of their relatives, friends or neighbours vanishing into the vortex of Trump's remedies for problems that barely exist. Governor Gavin Newsom, a fairly right-wing Democrat is regularly referred to by the president as 'far left', with his name distorted as 'Newscum'.
In LA, US Marines guard against protesters outside a federal building during an anti-Trump 'No Kings Day' demonstration. — AFP
Last Sunday, National Guard soldiers guard outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in LA. — Bloomberg
Those familiar with the posts attributed to Trump on his Truth Social feed won't be surprised by the bile directed towards anyone who opposes his agenda. A daily glimpse of the outpourings suffices as a guide to the alarming state of his distorted intellect. But those who claim there's a method to his madness might be right, given the extent to which his tussle with Elon Musk and focus on LA distracts global attention from the genocide in Gaza.
The United States-Israel 'humanitarian' effort in Gaza, spearheaded by an evangelist with no experience of distributing aid, has resulted in too many deaths to be lauded as an achievement. Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has pretty much acknowledged that he relies on Islamic State-aligned groups to help him destroy the same Hamas that he viewed not long ago as a useful means of denying the Palestinian right to statehood.
At the time of writing, meanwhile, the dozen-strong crew of the humanitarian vessel Madleen have just been deported from Israel.
It's worth noting that Greta Thunberg and likeminded souls tend to be tolerated only so long as they stick to their restricted spheres. Mention the genocide and you are branded an antisemite.
The brutal absurdity of the past couple of years has deprived that particular accusation of its sting – a pity, given that anti-Jewish prejudice survives almost a century after the European Holocaust. Yet Israel's determination to be viewed as an exclusively Jewish entity means that even Jews who reject the Zionist project and its genocidal inclinations might be suspected of complicity in the current genocide.
The ridiculous notion of 'white genocide' in South Africa, meanwhile, might have fallen off Trump's radar after his falling out with Musk. The entertainment factor in their clash was barely diminished by the widely accepted view of its inevitability.
Trump was particularly upset by Musk's reference to the Epstein files, and perhaps even more by the suggestion that he might have lost the 2024 election but for Musk's nearly US$300mil contribution.
It's hardly news that elections in the world's supposedly paramount democracy are bought and sold in an effort to sustain the status quo.
Funding from vested interests – not least the Israeli lobby – influences the results. Whether there is a way out is a different question, but it might not be answered before the chaos in California spreads and the domestic deployment of military forces is supplemented by shoot-to-kill orders.
Who can say whether military rule or worse might overtake events before decrepitude takes more of a toll on Trump, who seems determined to trample down on all his perceived enemies, from Bruce Springsteen and Harvard to any judge who dares to question his fascist inclinations.
(On Friday, Israel struck Iran, which US said it supports and for which Netanyahu has thanked Trump's 'leadership'. )
It remains an open question whether the US can recover from the wreckage that awaits four years hence.
As for what comes next for America — and by extension the West — keep your fingers crossed, but lower your hopes.
And keep your eyes on the next 'military parade' in the Land of the Free. — Dawn/ANN
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