We have all made new year resolutions and joyfully welcomed 2020 but sadly in the first ten days of this year, we are at the brink of war to which many are calling as WWIII. If we observe it deeply then we can see that the problem is not with the new year, the problem is the old idea of selling wars which are used mostly by the US and now some other countries including Pakistan(against his arc rival India) are also following this doctrine.
This recent confrontation between the US and Iran also indicates their war selling narrative. Although the US always has an upper hand Iran is also taking benefit from these latest events. By assassinating Iran’s second most powerful man US President Trump is hoping to get a political advantage at the time when is facing Presidential impeachment in US congress and Presidential elections are yet to come by the end of this year. On the other hand, Iran is also portraying the death of General Qasem Soleimani as a great loss to Imam Khomeini’s idea of the Islamic revolution in front of his people. A month ago those people were protesting against their own religious and political regime on the issue of increased fuel prices but suddenly this war narrative has changed their mindset and now they are mourning together with their supreme leader Ayot Ullah Ali Khamenei. So this time Iran also took benefit from war ideas.
If we look in the past this technique of selling war has become a norm in every US Presidential election. All Presidential candidates have used it to get some political mileage for elections. President Bush attacked Afghanistan after 9/11 and completed his presidential term and also got elected for the second term only by selling the war on terror to his people. Then-President Barack Obama came with the idea of change in which he said that he will withdraw US military troops from Afghanistan which he did to some extent but couldn’t fulfill his promise completely. In May 2011 he also used the same old tactic by attacking and claiming the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abottabad operation on the basis of which he got another term in the white house. And the current US President Trump who came in the power by promising Americans that he will take out the US from unnecessary wars but he also jumped in the middle east crisis to show America’s superpower in the world. But in middle east Iran, Syria, Lebanon with the help of their civil armed militias (mostly lead and organized by general Solemaini) and foreign supportive states (specifically Turkey and Russia) gave the US very tough times. As a result before elections, President Trump used the same old card of selling war by killing Soleimani to save his vote bank
Another aspect of this idea of selling wars is the selling of armed weapons by the technologically advanced countries having arms production industries. US, Russia and France are among the top suppliers of weapons to purchasing countries but here also the US being a superpower take lead as the biggest supplier of armed weapons. By deliberately promoting wars among countries having some regional, political and religious conflicts which provide US opportunity to sell weapons to fighting countries which ultimately results in the strengthening of the US economy. In recent years we have seen the US supplying billions of dollar weapons to Saudi Arabia, UAE and India. On the other hand, the US also gave birth and supported already existing proxies in the middle east, due to fear of those proxies many countries buy armed technologies from the US to counter proxies. Countries like China, Russia and France are also taking benefit from this war narrative by selling their armed weapons to countries including Turkey and Pakistan. This whole concept of war is greatly helping to boost the economy of countries having weapons production industry. Nowadays the idea of selling war is successfully cashed by many states and without discarding this narrative we cannot bring peace in the present world.