Latest news with #PhantomCeasefire

Sydney Morning Herald

Trump has lost control of the Middle East situation

There is nothing authentic or credible whenever Donald Trump makes any announcements (' Trump's fragile peace ', June 25). There are now unconfirmed reports that the nuclear sites in Iran were not totally obliterated and the ceasefire between Israel and Iran has been violated by both sides. He has lost control of the situation, just like the failed talks to end the Ukraine war. Peng Ee, Castle Cove It is hard to know whether President Trump's angry outburst arose from disappointment at the inability of Iran and Israel to embrace peace and safety for their people, or frustration and annoyance that his own actions and pronouncements were proving less than effective. The greatest obstacle to peace is that all sides, especially Trump, want to be seen as winners. Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls Whatever you think of Donald Trump, it's hard to deny that he has an unquenchable thirst for being the centre of attention on the global stage. Not content with allowing Benjamin Netanyahu to claim dominance over Iran, he chimes in with bombing its nuclear sites, so reclaiming the headlines and extracting unstinting praise from his Washington sycophants and the Israeli leader. Then he announces that he has secured a ceasefire and an impending end to the war. Iran probably had little choice in this matter, but as we have seen before this does not mean an end to ongoing terrorism. Will Trump be front and centre when this occurs? Max Redmayne, Drummoyne At last, Donald Trump has done something useful by banging Israel and Iran's heads together to bring about a ceasefire. Let's hope it holds. If this is a sign that he's finally getting his act together, I'm all for it. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill The Phantom Ceasefire is simply Trump's off-ramp. He announces a ceasefire and bows out, having been advised that regime change would only be achievable with extreme military commitment and massive cost in lives and treasure. You can never trust the Israelis – or indeed the Americans – with either a ceasefire or a negotiation. Israel then repeated precisely what has been seen before in Beirut – massive carpet bombing of the city just before the deadline. In Lebanon, Israel then proceeded to violate the ceasefire anyway, and has done so virtually every day in the past few months, often several times a day, racking up over 1000 violations. It will be the same again here. Norman Broomhall, Port Macquarie I'm just not sure that being quick off the mark to believe, embrace, ratify or promote anything that Donald Trump has his hand in is prudent practice ('War in the Middle East is dangerous; Albanese misses his opportunity', June 24). Unlike the 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' powder keg, Australia is an onlooker this time around. Who knows the extent of crucial information and knowledge shared with us in an extremely volatile situation baked in toxic factors worthy of a War and Peace-type tome. Taking breath for 24 hours didn't seem such a critical missed opportunity to me. Brian Jones, Leura I was very disappointed to read that Israel and Iran have ignored Trump's efforts to bring a ceasefire and peace to their countries. It is disgraceful ingratitude, especially from Israel after all the president's efforts – getting those big planes out to bomb Iran for them was expensive, you know. It would serve them right if he gave up and concentrated on playing golf and squabbling with Elon Musk. Nola Tucker, Kiama Donald Trump's pre-emptive attack may have set a precedent that we will all come to regret. In 10, or more likely 25 years' time, we may well hear China proclaiming that 'Australia simply cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear submarines which have the potential to carry nuclear missiles. This would upset the whole balance of power in the Pacific. China is prepared to do whatever is required to prevent this from happening.' Dick Pollitt, Mosman Hollow words There is no doubt 'The Donald' will now be promoting himself as deserving the Nobel Peace Prize (Letters, June 25). Listen to Netanyahu and Trump's secretary of defence showering praise on him and see him now claiming to broker peace. It is setting the stage. However, where are the famous one-day peace plan results for Ukraine and Gaza? More importantly, when will the war on his own country's citizens and institutions end? It is all happening openly: immigrant deportations, attacks on universities and students, assaults on women's health, Medicaid, veterans benefits and voting rights, inequitable tax plans and the rule of law. A US regime change seems more appropriate. Robert Caraian, Crows Nest No Nobel Peace Prize, no Mt Rushmore, no commemorative stamp and no portrait on a $100 treasury note. If we must honour the orange conman for blundering onto a peace deal, name a prison or a wing of a psychiatric hospital after him. Better yet, consign him to history as an example of a temporary fit of voter insanity. Richard Keyes, Enfield Flawed logic For years Iran had called for the destruction of 'Zionist' Israel. Israel said Iran's ballistic missiles and, particularly, its nuclear ambitions, were for annihilating Israel. Is this logically flawed? Firstly, only one country, the US, could pre-emptively 'nuke' Israel without a retaliatory response of being wiped out itself. Secondly, if the purpose of annihilating Israel is to 'hand' back the land to the Palestinians, use of nuclear weapons would make it uninhabitable, thus defeating the purpose of 'nuking' Israel. The ballistic missiles threat is a different matter. Carlo Ursida, Kensington (Vic) Oust Netanyahu While forcible regime change in Iran should be left to the Iranian people (Letters, June 25), there is one that the whole world would welcome, and is certainly a possibility for Trump. That is the lifting of the siege and destruction of Gaza, which would be the outcome of strong action by him. Trump should force Netanyahu to withdraw all his jackbooted thugs from the area, immediately restore the supply of thousands of supply trucks to the starving population and arrange the supervision of the food supplies in the country. By forcing Netanyahu to withdraw, it will allow the Israeli judicial system to charge him with the fraud that has been waiting for him, his government will fall, allowing elections to take place, giving the vast majority of the population the chance to rid itself of the hard-right cabinet. As a bonus for Trump, it would give him a few points towards the Nobel Peace Prize he so desperately wants. A democratic Israel would be welcomed by the world and set the stage for peace with its Islamic neighbours. John Greenway, Wentworth Falls Hold back on the HAMs I don't think it is worth considering how Howard, Abbott and Morrison would have reacted to Trump's bombing of Iran (' Albanese doesn't want a bar of Middle East conflict, but that comes at a cost ', June 25). They are has-beens from yesteryear. It seems childish that James Massola even wants to compare the prime minister with them. I appreciate Albanese's measured response. He has nothing to prove and there's no need to grovel. Claudia Drevikovsky, Croydon We are happy not to have H (Howard), A (Abbott) or M (Morrison) in charge in these worrying times. Reporters, do not ask these HAMs their opinions for print, radio or television ever again. Too much HAM is not good for you. Bea Hodgson, Gerringong Budget brings joy and despair As a social worker of more than 40 years, I almost cried reading the budget announcement that the NSW government will spend $1.2 billion to overhaul the state's child protection system (″⁣ Budget focus on children, $1b housing scheme ″⁣, June 25). I know how hard-won this victory for the most vulnerable children has been; how hard many social workers and public servants have worked behind the scenes to advocate for those families others would prefer to ignore. Child protection rarely earns extra money, and is not always a popular choice for governments. I applaud the NSW government on this occasion. Josie McSkimming, Coogee While the Minns government is busy congratulating itself over the budget, the mental health crisis rolls on. Mental health patients and their families should have been a priority, but once again have been put on the backburner. Ignoring the plight of these defenceless members of society is shameful and unforgivable. The Minns government will pay a heavy price for this neglect if it is allowed to continue. Graham Lum, North Rocks Generally, the NSW treasurer is being applauded for presenting a modest, restrained budget exercising some fiscal discipline while attempting to address a long-term apparently intractable problem of child protection. The level of debt remains a concern for many, along with significant cost overruns for ongoing infrastructure projects demonstrating the challenges that remain for the government. The editorial (' Sensible, sober budget is most interesting ', June 25) highlights the potential difficulty for the government to keep a lid on wage increases, a real issue as the respected former treasury secretary Ken Henry claims the cumulative effect of bad policies has cut a massive '40 per cent off the average income of Australian workers'. As is the case at the federal level, in NSW there is a continuing budget shortfall between expenses and revenue and the prediction of a $1.1 billion surplus in 2027/28 needs to be viewed with a grain of salt. Once again, clearly, the time is now for our politicians to implement well-structured tax reform to ensure there is revenue available to meet community expectations in relation to government services and programs. Ross Butler, Rodd Point In a quiet corner of the budget is a promise of an introduction of road user charges for EVs. As an EV owner I do not have a problem with that but it should be extended to all road uses. Tom Meakin, Port Macquarie No help for our animals There's one statistic missing from Ken Henry's otherwise penetrating column (' Nature is critical to productivity ', June 25). While he records our woeful productivity rates and the way short-term thinking and political opportunism have cut 40 per cent off the average income of Australians, he fails to mention the statistic for the bosses who, despite the pathetic productivity figures, somehow find a way to keep rewarding themselves with hefty pay increases. According to a Governance Institute of Australia report, salaries for CEOs rose by 14 per cent in the past financial year. I suspect 'understanding our critical dependence upon the state of nature' rarely gets onto the agenda in the nation's top boardrooms. No one will be surprised to hear the report showed a growing disparity between executives and staff. Unfortunately, nature doesn't get a say in this. Tell that to the Tasmanian salmon. Nick Franklin, Katoomba I joined my local branch of the Labor Party about two years ago. During our monthly meeting, reports are tabled from local, state and federal government – Labor rules the roost at all three. Unfortunately, at last night's meeting, when my local member, Pat Conroy, spoke under the heading 'What Did Labor Promise' which contained nearly 50 items (including beer taxes), nature protection laws weren't mentioned. From the local state member, Yasmin Catley – zero on the promised Great Koala National Park, and it was left to me (definitely no expert) to mention the incredible discovery of a 290 strong koala colony nearby and council's role in conserving them. I feel it is hopeless, Ken Henry. No one in power is listening and there seems to be no understanding of nature, our living standards and how they connect. Any chance you'll get into politics and try and sort it out? Dorin Suciu, Eleebana Find a purpose Despite Sussan Ley calling for a 'sweeping review of the Liberals' core purpose and direction' (' Ley demands deeper review ', June 25), we are bombarded daily by Liberal MPs demanding that the government acts in a certain way, or that it strongly, publicly endorses the actions of specific overseas governments. Andrew Hastie and Alex Hawke have hardly been out of the daily news cycle, and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price even held a press conference to announce her rejection of the 2050 net zero target. If, as Ley stated, the Liberals 'respect the election outcome', could they please accept that they have no mandate for demanding the government do anything, accept that their policies and opinions were rejected by the Australian people in the strongest possible way at the last election, and at least shut up until they have decided what their party's 'core purpose and direction' is? Alan Marel, North Curl Curl Sussan Ley should be using her National Press Club address not to dwell on the obvious electoral hiding, but to outline a way forward for the Liberals. Let party internal reviews be exactly that. Where are the informed responses to the call for consensus, insights to tax reform and economic renewal? A strong opposition means a stronger democracy and better governance. Michael Blissenden, Dural