After US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats this week to send Iran back to the Stone Age, where do we think this war, which has entered its second month, is headed? And how would this affect the world that has been pushed into a state of chaos?
Shortly before midnight on Thursday, the people of Pakistan were bombarded by their own government with an unprecedented increase in gasoline and high-speed diesel prices. This pushed the country into economic turmoil that affected almost all households except the very rich.
Even when this seemed inevitable, the resulting burden on the weak shoulders of the people was obviously unbearable. Immediately, the reality of this situation began to impose itself on the minds of those who sit at the table of authority. Thus, exactly 24 hours later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had to address the nation to announce a reduction in oil prices.
This presentation by the Prime Minister before midnight on Friday was a sad and even alarming reflection of the poor economic state of Pakistan. This war, which has raised energy costs, has exposed many of our fundamental weaknesses. We had not built defenses against such unforeseen disasters. Now, suddenly, we face challenges that test the collective strength and sense of purpose of an impoverished society.
How pleased we are with our diplomatic triumph in serving as mediators in this war. This is certainly an achievement and one hopes that the prospect of meaningful negotiations between the United States and Iran is not yet totally dashed.
However, all attention is now focused on the battlefield. President Trump’s address to the nation on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Pakistan) clearly signaled an escalation and his evidence became available soon after, as the United States and Israel intensified their attacks on Iran. In response, Iran launched more missiles toward Israel and the Gulf countries.
A major development was that Iran shot down a US fighter jet over the country on Friday.
This was revealed around the same time as cnn was broadcasting its exclusive report on recent US intelligence assessments, which said that about half of Iran’s missile launchers were still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remained in Iran’s arsenal despite daily US and Israeli strikes on military targets over the past five weeks. cnn has cited sources familiar with the intelligence.
This just means that the action on both sides has increased and there will be plenty of updates for the news pages. But the focus on what is supposed to be some kind of raid should fall largely on President Trump and his shifting stances. In this sense, his fixation on the Stone Age metaphor is intriguing and instructive. As if he is willing to destroy all the structures in Iran that characterize a modern country if its leaders do not accept his terms to end the war.
As it happens, President Trump addressed the nation from the White House, with his threat to bomb Iran into the Stone Age, on the same day the United States launched its mission to the moon, a truly inspiring undertaking that exemplifies an extraordinary human achievement. With this ability to venture into outer space, the United States is also willing to return a country to a prehistoric existence.
I don’t need to go into details, but NASA’s Artemis II is a high-risk trip around the moon that, according to published reports, marks the boldest step taken by the United States yet to return humans to the lunar surface in the near future. Four astronauts, including a woman for the first time in history, participate in the lunar mission, the first manned trip to the Moon since 1972.
It is a 10-day mission to circle the Moon and travel farther from Earth than any human has ever done before. At the beginning, an astronaut said: “We are going for all of humanity.” Very pious thought, no doubt. But humanity as such is wounded by an unjustified war that the United States has started in collusion with Israel.
Let me recall that memorable phrase uttered by Neil Armstrong in July 1969 when he became the first person to step on the moon: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for humanity.” Ah, but how many giant leaps would humanity need to return to the Stone Age? Or just a nuclear step?
Anyway, it was for the first time in a post on Truth Social that Trump used the expression, which has also been used by other American leaders. He wrote that until the Strait of Hormuz opens, “we are throwing Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Age!!!” He spoke similar words in an interview with Reuters.
However, his speech on Wednesday was a formal and supposedly considered statement. He said: “We are going to hit them very hard over the next two or three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong.”
Oh, where do they belong? Not surprisingly, Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was more succinct. His post on X consisted of just five words: “Back to the Stone Age.”
Naturally, Iran has responded to this, also with actions in the field of war. In a social media post, a Revolutionary Guard commander noted Trump’s threat, adding: “Hollywood’s delusions have poisoned their minds to such an extent that with their paltry 250 years of history, they threaten a civilization more than 6,000 years old.”
Time and time again, Trump has boasted about his military’s exploits in destroying Iran’s ability to continue fighting. Just a few days ago, Pete Hegseth said that the United States had achieved full control of the skies over Iran for the first time since the war began. By shooting down a US fighter jet on Friday, the Iranian military showed that it can still defend itself. What can happen when a great power confronts an ancient civilization?
The writer is an experienced journalist. He can be contacted at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of PakGazette.tv.
