Israel vs. Iran: A Warning Shot to Africa’s Sovereignty

On June 13, 2025, Israel launched a massive and unprovoked attack on Iran, targeting nuclear sites, air defense systems, and key military infrastructure. There was no UN authorization. No Iranian missile fired before this. Just suspicion and the usual whisper campaign about Iran's “nuclear ambitions.”

But suspicion is not justification. Iran is a sovereign state. And according to the UN's own nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. So what gave Israel — or anyone — the right to bomb its cities?

Western Hypocrisy: On Full Display

Within hours, Western officials lined up to justify the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu roared that Israel was “defending the free world.” Germany’s newly installed Chancellor went even further, declaring:

“Israel is doing the dirty job for us.”

Donald Trump, never one to miss a moment of bombast, posted on Truth Social:

“We control Iranian airspace.”

Yet over several days after this empty declaration, Iranian missiles kept pounding Israeli territory. Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Be’er Sheva were all hit. Civilians died. Infrastructure collapsed. The “control” Trump boasted of was fantasy — a dangerous one.

Ted Cruz and the Politics of Ignorance

Then came Senator Ted Cruz, appearing on Tucker Carlson’s show to defend Israeli actions. Carlson — one of the few voices on the American right who questions foreign wars — asked Cruz a simple question:

“What’s the population of Iran?”

Cruz didn’t know. He fumbled. He offered no data, no knowledge — just slogans. Here was a man calling for war against a nation of 88 million people, and he couldn’t name one fact about the country he wanted to bomb. This is how wars are justified in Washington.

The American Divide: Sanders, MAGA, and Real Anti-War Voices

In stark contrast, Senator Bernie Sanders issued a warning to Trump and Congress:

“The American people do not want another endless war in the Middle East — and we should not be dragged into one to satisfy Netanyahu or the military-industrial complex.”

He’s right. The American public is tired. Even the MAGA base — the very movement that put Trump in power — was founded on anti-war populism. They opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They rejected globalist conflict. And now they watch, confused, as their champion threatens to drag the world into another disastrous conflict.

Even Tucker Carlson, once one of Trump’s loudest defenders, now asks: “Why are we doing this? What benefit is there to the U.S. in poking Iran into war?”

Why This Should Matter to Africa

Some may ask: what does this have to do with us in Africa? Everything.

If Israel can bomb a sovereign country based on suspicion, and Western leaders can praise it as a “dirty job,” then who protects Africa? What stops a NATO power from launching a preemptive strike on an African port, a military facility, or a national leader they find inconvenient?

We have seen this before — in Libya, where NATO removed Gaddafi. In the Sahel, where drone strikes and coups are wrapped in the language of “security.” And in Palestine, where occupation is rebranded as “self-defense.”

Let Africa Be Clear

We must say, with courage and clarity:

• No country has the right to bomb another based on fear or presumption.
• Sovereignty is not a Western privilege. It is a universal right.
• Justice, if it is not equal, is nothing but a tool of oppression.

Let Netanyahu boast. Let Trump bluster. Let Ted Cruz study his maps. Let Berlin cheer the “dirty work” being done in the Middle East.

But from Douala to Nairobi, from Accra to Bamako, let Africa say firmly: this is not the world we accept. Not in our name. Not on our watch.

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