Some outside-the-box thinking might be no harm

We will just change things around a little bit. Let’s hypothesise for a moment that instead of the United States and Israel launching their bombs on Tehran and taking out the Ayatollah and his Cabinet as well as his wife, daughter, son-in-law, the Revolutionary Guards, and quite a few others, that they instead decided to drop their bombs on the Vatican to take out the Pope, his Curia and the Swiss Guard. I think it would be fair to say that there would be a fair bit of international outrage and condemnation and indeed sympathy for those bereaved by the bombs. Such a hypothetical attack would leave poor JD Vance in a bit of a quandary! Would he support his President or the Pope? As a MAGA man I think JD would opt for the President ahead of the Pope.

Even the Chinese and the Russians, who are not exactly followers of the Pope or the Catholics around the world, would join in the condemnation of the US/Israeli bombings, just as they have done with the assassination of the Ayatollah. I wonder then would the bould Micheál, Mr Starmer, Macron, Merz, the war monger Ms von der Leyen and the other timid EU leaders find the courage to condemn an attack on the Vatican as a breach of international law.

Fair play to Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, he condemned the US/Israel declaration of war and was so bold as to tell Mr Trump to get stuffed with his threat of trade sanctions against Spain for failing to fall into line and support the war against Iran. We have to present the bowl of shamrock to Mr Trump shortly so, of course, we can’t criticise our good friend.

As in all of these cases there has to be a justifiable excuse for launching bombs. Well, we were told that Iran was developing nuclear bombs and while it was okay for half the world to have nuclear weapons it was not okay for Iran. We were also told, not more than eight months ago, that the US bunker busting bombs had obliterated the Iranian nuclear programme (who does one believe?). We were also told that Iraq had WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) to justify the invasion of that country.

It was a lie that a less than inquisitive British Prime Minister Tony Blair fell for. Or maybe Blair did not fall for it, but decided that invading Iraq was good business for Britain and what the hell if it cost the lives of a few British soldiers. We were also told that the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was evil and that he was intent on driving all the infidels in the world to hell. That won’t greatly upset the infidels as they have come to the conclusion that there is no such place as hell.

So, to get back to the hypothesis. There’s a lot of daft people in the world, and I don’t exclude myself from that category, so it is not as ridiculous a proposition as you might initially think. Ali Khamenei is the religious leader of quite a proportion of the world’s Muslims. When he speaks, Muslims take notice. Pope Leo XIV is the leader of quite a number of the world’s Catholics. When Pope Leo speaks, a lot of Catholics take notice. The Ayatollah was not a fan of the US and less so of Israel.

The Pope is not a fan of the current US administration and has had the temerity to criticise the politics of the US President when he is in breach of international law, while also being critical of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The Pope could become a target. The Ayatollah had his critics. Not everybody in Iran was in love with him. Not everyone liked his politics. Loads of Iranians, including some in Ireland, are pleased to see the back of him. Not all Catholics are in love with Pope Leo. There are plenty of people who would like to see the back of him, or, more accurately, what he represents.

There’s loads of women who would like to be rid of Pope Leo because of his views on clerical celibacy, among other things. One would have thought that these women might have sympathised with the relatives of the mother, wife and children killed in the attack on Tehran. But not a word. There was sympathy for the schoolchildren killed in southern Iran but not any condemnation that I can recall. A redeeming feature of an attack on the Vatican is that it is very unlikely that any women would have been caught up in the bombing.

I don’t for a moment suggest that Mr Trump would have any desire to drop a bomb on the Vatican but when he is led by the nose by Netanyahu, as he was when he was left with no choice but to join in the war in Iran, then one can’t rule anything out.

You will be told that the Vatican is safe. It does not sit on top of an oil well but I’m not so sure that oil was a motivating factor in the attack on Iran. Israel led the attack and it is more interested in land acquisition than oil. Of course, if acquired land came with oil, then that would be a bonus. The US could do without the turmoil in the oil markets that the attack on Iran has generated. It was different with poor old Maduro. He could be taken out (and was) without any disruption to the distribution of Venezuelan oil. The world was happy that another dictator, according to those who know, was taken out of the equation.

Post Maduro, oil continued to flow and the prices remained static. There’s a different story now with kerosene gone through the roof and the price of petrol and diesel at the pumps rising out of control as wholesalers and retailers of oil products milk the consumers. The war in Iran has provided the excuse for price gouging and our esteemed Taoiseach can only wring his hands and look to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Fat lot of good that will do for consumers.

He has asked the CCPC to look into it. Fair play to him. I’m sure the wholesalers and retailers are quaking in their boots. They understand the oil business. It is complex and beyond the understanding of the consumer who quite simply has to accept the law of supply (of which there is plenty) and demand which, in many cases, is the result of exaggerated need.

Do you not think it strange that when the US and Israel decide to go to war it is the ordinary people of the world who must pay the piper? It is the ordinary people in Iran who will most suffer as a result of this attack on their country and, around the world, it is the ordinary people who will pay the cost. The arms industry and the oil magnates will laugh all the way to the bank to be welcomed by the bankers who now must pay themselves a big increase.

At least if it was the Vatican that went up in smoke we would not have to deal with this oil impact on our daily lives.

Thought for the Day 

Accursed be he that first invented war - Christopher Marlowe