Trump needs a break for the sake of harmony

It is not easy to defend Mr Trump and my instinct is to deplore his many actions especially in Gaza and Iran. While Israel bears the blame for the genocide in Gaza and the attempted obliteration of Iran it seems that Mr Trump and indeed previous US presidents are obligated to follow Israel into war whenever the Israelis decide that war is in their best interests. The Holocaust is wheeled out as the excuse for Israel’s belligerence but there’s a danger that the use of the Holocaust is being overplayed.

We all well know that Nazi Germany exterminated and displaced, in the most horrible way, millions of Jews during World War II. If there was any danger that the world might forget what Hitler did, they would be quickly reminded of the Holocaust by Jews worldwide. The diabolical extermination of Jews by Nazi Germany is a stain on all of humanity but it does not give Jews, and more particularly Israelis, the right to perpetrate their own genocide on people who represent a minor threat to the state of Israel.

Mr Trump continues to support the Israeli Attack Forces in Gaza, Iran and now Lebanon. He supplies the munitions which the Israelis rain down on Gaza and Lebanon. He followed Mossad and Israel into the war in Iran but then discovered that the annihilation of the Iranian people was not as simple as Netanyahu had led him to believe. The Iranians fought back and played a few cards that Mr Trump had not thought they held.

Closing the Strait of Hormuz and depriving the world of the badly needed oil and gas supplies put the economies of the world at risk. And, of course, the people of the US were among those who suffered with increased costs at the gas pumps. Iran held Mr Trump by the short and curlies and forced the US President to recognise a few home truths. There’s more than one way to skin a cat and more than one way to win a war.

Mr Trump is not a man who takes defeat easily. He saw that he had to bring some sanity to the Iran situation and began to find a way out. He had to make concessions but at the same time he had to be in a position to declare that his war aims in Iran had been achieved, He came to terms with Iran and one would think that world opinion would welcome the cessation of violence (even if only for 60 days!) 

But the media and Mr Trump’s political opponents, never ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, exposed Mr Trump’s claims of victory for the nonsense that they are. Sometimes, when you are ahead, it is no harm to take things easy and for the sake of the world’s economies it would be better to leave Mr Trump with his delusions while welcoming the end to hostilities. 

Perhaps it is time to give Mr Trump a break. He does not deserve it, but for the sake of harmony in the Middle East, he should be given a pardon... even a fool’s pardon.

The FAI in hot water, yet again 

The Football Association of Ireland is in hot water yet again. It appeared last week that the FAI had secured the blessing of the Palestinian Football Association to go ahead with the contentious fixture versus Israel. Facing opposition and criticism from the Stop the Game campaign, the FAI quickly moved ahead with a decision to play the fixture behind closed doors at a neutral venue.

It appeared that the FAI acted decisively to put an end to the controversy, but then the people who represent Palestinian football (PFA) issued a statement which suggested that the FAI overegged the position of the Palestinians and claimed a go-ahead for the playing of the game that did not exist.

The PFA statement was pretty emphatic. It said it had not issued any statement endorsing, approving, or supporting the decision to proceed with the match and of course that was an invitation to the political people to get involved. Perhaps Sinn Féin are genuinely concerned about soccer in this country but it might also be the case that they see some advantage for themselves in getting behind the Stop the Game campaign.

Clearly the vast majority of people in this country would like to see Ireland withdraw from the fixture and take the consequences of whatever UEFA might throw at the FAI. It seems that UEFA are not in a position to decide any harsh action against the FAI. Yet they should have taken action against Israel on the basis of the destruction of life and property in Gaza. According to the PFA as many as one thousand athletes, potential footballers, are among the 75,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli Attack Forces in Gaza.

Our esteemed Taoiseach has insisted that the game should go ahead and indeed seemed to suggest it go ahead in Dublin, despite what might happen in terms of peaceful protest (not much chance of that!) around the fixture. So, if the government is in favour of the game going ahead, then Sinn Féin, as the lead opposition party, has to be against. In this instance, Sinn Féin and the Stop the Game campaign have the high moral ground and the pressure builds on the FAI as Micheál Martin leads the country down another garden path.

By the way, did you hear that the EU has charged Micheál with responsibility for settling the EU budget for the next five years? They must be mad. Imagine asking Micheál to control spending when he has allowed reckless overspending in every government department for the past three years.

A bit of a conundrum 

As I write this (on Friday afternoon), I find myself confronted with a potentially insoluble problem. A bit of a conundrum. As you know, I have made clear my abhorrence of the ridiculous situation whereby Mayo remain in the football championship after being beaten twice in the competition. Mayo of course, are not the only team to have suffered two defeats while remaining in the race for Sam. Meath have suffered likewise, as have Donegal and Dublin, to mention a couple of others.

My problem is how can I reasonably and rationally travel to Hastings Insurance MacHale Park to see Mayo take on Meath when my reason tells me that Mayo are out of the competition? Where is the justice that the Connacht champions are denied the right to contest the All-Ireland quarter-final and potentially final in Croke Park? Am I not contributing to the nonsense that this championship represents? Am I not contributing my hard-earned money to the scam that is designed quite simply and blatantly to fill the coffers of the GAA?

I have to admit that Mayo v Meath does not fill me with any great anticipation. Earlier in the championship, I had it in my head that Meath were a coming team and would be real contenders for the Leinster Championship only to see them go down to defeat by Westmeath - another team denied the opportunity to contest the All-Ireland quarter-final, though they might secure a pass if they manage a win against Monaghan.

The only reason I can find that might justify the trip to Castlebar is the chance to finally see Kobe in action in the flesh. He quite clearly is a unique talent and it may well be the last chance to see him in action before he departs for St Kilda’s down under.