“Stand out of my sun.” Imagine that, said to the most famous conqueror and king of the time. That was Greek philosopher Diogenes talking, in ancient Greece, Corinth, to be precise, so legend has it. Talking to Alexander, who is still called the Great. Diogenes had become famous for his life style and believes: He refused all wealth, riches and luxury and is said to have lived in a barrel most of the time.
The barrel is most probably a synonym for extremely reduced living conditions. By choice, in Diogenes’ case. He was founder of a concept that circled around good deeds, and a ‘return to nature’. The natural state of living. These ideas since have frequently cropped up in the history of mankind.
People are not all the same. Sounds simple, but it is not always. Some you’d rather not meet, such as those similar to the present president of the US. The ancient legend around Alexander and Diogenes of Greece makes that point, in very simple terms:
What really counts is to train your thoughts.
For many, wealth and fame as a goal in life often are considered to be the basic: The ‘pursuit of happiness’ it is also called, sometimes.
When people start looking for happiness in wealth and fame, because the applause of others seem to make them happy – or content, you may find yourself in ‘queer street’, as that old saying goes. In war, actually, which is not as funny as that ancient ‘queer’ phrase makes it seem, but cruel.
Greed and cruelty very often come with hunger for wealth and more wealth and power. But happiness people often miss out on.
The story “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy, great Russian 19th century writer, is just as eloquent and clear on the subject. Although it may seem obvious, the way Tolstoy renders it, it is compelling in its vivacity.
“Stand out of my sun.” There are people, who harm others just for their own good. I’d rather not have to meet them if I can help it.
Now after a month of attacks and counterattacks, alternately hopeful negotiations are mentioned in official statements and yet at the same time attacks continue. We all know that a truce could be a first step in negotiating peace.
But, what if certain parties don’t want peace, really?
“A Bully’s Paradise” ?
Because the ulterior motives are not part of statements – but can be deducted based on similar occurrences and past events?
Again, this is about power, money and thus oil; natural resources. Iran has the largest oil recovery industry in the world. Which can be partly seen from the prices rising currently to breaking point.
“Levers”: They are technical appliances; but the term is also used for an artificial ‘bottleneck’, a pressure point that is meant to make the other party to the conflict more lenient.
Or make them buckle and give in.
None of the parties concerned is apt to do that soon, so it seems: Iran, because they know what it could mean to the country as a whole, if they would ‘sell out’.
Netanyahu and Trump because they need this war: Their respective administration’s support is waning, their population needs reasons why they are put through such a lot of suffering.
But: There are no reasons that bear inspection or a closer look:
Except greed – and a too large ego – and selfishness.
The sad facts we find in the news these days are ‘statements’ for cameras’ sakes as well as claims: Statements meant to make an outrage right after the fact.
Claims as to actual intentions or aims or targets of a war that was completely off limits from day one.
A president who actually seems to deem himself to be the harbinger of relieve or righteousness… a ceremony in the White House that looks like another sect becoming founded, for the simple minds actually believing this; even Secretary of Defense Hegseth stating it: That a mission is being conducted, similar to other Christian missions.
It’s so sad it would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so cruel.
Because the original intentions are clear and never could be in any doubt for anyone knowing just a bit more about the situation:
Oil, money, power. Period.
“Weapons of Mass Destruction” in Iraq were the purported target of the US war against Iraq in 2003. They were proven to be false claims, too.
Once again:
Until 2018 the uranium enrichment control contracts with Iran were in effect – and working: The IAEA confirmed that in its official reports.
Since then, the so-called negotiations with Iran were an actual bullying and pressuring the opposite at the table with inacceptable conditions.
In history it has been known before that such ‘negotiations’ were just so much window-dressing. That way it’s easier to claim that all possible steps had been taken and now the time for action had come.
Take any precedent in recent history and you will find the same pattern applying: Vietnam, Iraq, Korea. The US just hitting out whenever they have a ‘need’.
Might really be the sole reason: The US economy relies heavily on the largest industry there is over there, the weapons’ manufacturers… make them happy by using weapons and thus make room for more orders and thus more profit.
Israel’s president Netanyahu at the same time – known as a hard-liner long before actually taking office – drove and still drives Israeli settlers into Palestine territories.
His support in the parliament and even the majority of Israeli people was constantly decreasing. So he started a war.
Another war as cover-up.
When the last shah of Iran was ‘let go’, the CIA was involved. That’s a proven historical fact.
Have the recent uprisings in Iran and the cruel reactions by the Iranian government been ‘used’ – or people’s unrest even been initiated – to justify an otherwise downright criminal act of starting a war…?
Someone like that president of the US who initiated the attack on the Capitol in 2021 seems not beyond anything, really.
Apart from everything else known about that person who is ‘leader’ of the USA’s government: A criminal ruled guilty in a US court.
How do they look into the mirror each morning I wonder.
We need to make this clear: There is no way that this can ever be made right. Instead of negotiating hitting a whole region and killing and destroying into the bargain. For obvious ‘incentives’.
Image: Radio Deutschlandfunk (Germany), “Nach einem Luftschlag auf eine Raffinerie in Teheran ging sogenannter Schwarzer Regen auf Teheran nieder (Bild vom 8.3.2026) (AFP / ATTA KENARE)”
Prices are rising… well, what would one expect. People are being killed. Now the ‘black rain‘ over Tehran is another step towards destruction. The region going up in flames. The country scarred already and becoming another Iraq…?
It’s good to see that they are starting to act again, NATO, EU: ‘Trump’s war’ is not his doing alone, of course.
As a ‘figure head’ he ‘works’ based on the interests behind him too: The industries, most importantly the one producing weapons. The population, who as a majority depend on their ‘way of life’, namely cars for moving across country in the USA, with cheapest prices of all… they trust that any president will observe this concept, this idea, and the government will take care of petrol.
War is no heroic deed of people doing the good thing. War is not only a ‘costly affair’… it always is part of a framework of interests and needs of those in power, those with money and those with ulterior motives. Such goals are not always easy to ‘dig down to’, define.
In the news we usually get the actual event. What we need to do is more reading, to get at the facts behind the ‘images’. Reliable sources. Remember that news have statements in them, which in turn are based on interests and needs and – very often also on diplomacy.
What also helps to understand the ‘goings-on’ behind the scenes, the real motives, is this age-old concept:
“Cui bono?” – “Who benefits?”
If you ask that about anything, it will get you farther in understanding.
This is no ‘piece of cake’, especially not for those being killed and wounded every day. Being scarred for life by health risks and cruelty and greed.
We need to prove that the international community is stronger holding out against one or another country and their selfish, incompetent and greedy ‘potentates’.
Images licensed via Adobe CC, my graphics, no AI involved
The president of the USA, Donald Trump, is a criminal ruled guilty on 34 counts of bribery and corruption as well as molestation before a regular court of law of the US. At the same time ‘leader’ of one of the most powerful nations today, yet. War means death and destruction, always. No exceptions. None.
Landscapes and living areas are laid waste, people deprived of home and livelihood.
Although all the motives are clear and have been for decades, still the international community lets him and his administration act as if he was the only one around?
This is indeed a crime, because it’s killing people for no other reason but profit:
He and his administration cancelled the Uranium enrichment control contracts without reason. They were working, according to official reports of the IAEA at the time. They had been reached after ten years of negotiating.
Internally the reign of the Iranian government is nothing to write home about. But, about how many governments, especially the larger powers today, can you say that? China? Russia?
The US?
The USA where money is the sole defining attribute of a person. Where close to no protection for workers/employees exists to this day. Where weapons are sold to minors and people killed in the streets into the bargain, thousands each year. Where people from one day to another will lose house or home and live in cars, with their few belongings right there, searching for employment.
Now this country of Iran, whose conflicts in the area are heavily intertwined with the Israel-Palestine conflict and so many adjacent countries is supposed to be bombed back into the stone age? Just like Iraq?
Iran: A tradition and history that reach back thousands of years, far beyond Islam and its first advent?
Because the US need oil, cheap and fast? Because cars in the US have to be kept rolling, with cheap petrol, if as a president you want to stay in office?
Because the weapons’ producing industry is the largest and most powerful over there?
Where are EU, UNO and NATO these days? What if another member would do the same…? Any of them?
Russia and Putin are scorned for their attack on Ukraine, for other internal reasons. Have been so for years? And Trump does the same thing now… To cover up, too. As so often has happened throughout history: Make war on a ‘common enemy’ to distract attention from internal affairs and shortcomings.
Netanyahu of Israel was and is a well-known hardliner against Palestinian territories. He has driven Israeli settlers there for almost a decade now. He has lost the support of his own parliament as well as the majority of the people of Israel. Which is a fact even on platforms such as LinkedIn.
Stop this madness now! Start using reason again. Stop selfish, cruel and completely ruthless people such as the present president of the US and his administration.
Note 16th March 2026: Acting like the true ‘scary’ ‘deal maker‘ he has publicly declared himself to be: Trump, this sorry excuse for a man, of course, uses every lever he can get hold of. Beware, and just wait a little… Neither NATO, UNO nor EU will bow to your conditions:
You have all the oil you need…? Now…in dependence on Russian oil, for the time being… but it is only reasonable that in the long run this will not be sufficient or satisfying to an economy as dependent on oil and fossil fuels as the USA:
Rather make Iran succumb and get oil from the largest fossil fuel recovering industry in the world on the cheap… hey?
Who do you think you are fooling here…?
We all know by this time that messages in front of cameras are one thing; but often just as much marketing and boasting or pressurizing as anything…
Setting the whole of the Near East on fire – nice and calm sitting in front of screens thousands of miles away.
Some stunt.
Really…? – Rather embarrassing if it wasn’t so cruel – one is reminded of just so many boys playing at tin soldiers…
He seems not to know even himself what he is aiming at. Only yesterday in front of the world’s cameras he said it in so many words. Yet, it is abundantly clear that all of this is just another desperate attempt to divert attention from his problems in regard to internal affairs and his criminal record.
A person like the Secretary of Defense of the USA, Hegseth, even has the unspeakable impertinence to state: ~’no politically correct war; no UNO mission, no plans for the time after. Just plain war.’
A ripe pair.
Two of a kind.
The conflicts between Israel and Palestine and the additional forces stationed in the north and the south, the Guerilla troops of Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as the ‘support’ by the USA:
They are decades old!
Anyone with an atom of reason and smartness would have shied away from such a stupid and cruel step.
But someone like the present president in the US lacks that. What he is interested in is his own position, his power and – the future power in the US.
His affinity for Putin and his love of a dictatorship that allows him unbridled power and say-so without any limitations are legendary.
The New York Times as well as the Washington Post* (when it still was independent) reported on both these facts:
The Pulitzer Prize committee’s information on awarding the prize to both newspapers regarding the connection and election influence in 2016 here.
Trump initiated the storming of the Capitol in January 2021.
He was ruled guilty in front of a US court on 34 counts of bribery, corruption and molestation.
The current Israel president Netanyahu has suffered from lack of support of his ‘subjects’ and the parliament as such for his cruel politics towards Palestinian territories, the Gaza strip and West Bank, going on for almost a decade now.
At this point his actions that started this escalation are another desperate attempt to keep his position as long as possible.
In this respect it is no surprise too, that the talks to Trump were not public and also not disclosed in any way.
The weapons’ industry in the US is the largest and most powerful. Previous presidents were pressurized and even murdered because they tried to limit their profits. (J.F. Kennedy being the most prominent.)
This war is outrageous, it is exactly the same type of action that Putin reverted to when attacking Ukraine, according to international law.
These attacks have to stop!
It will just lay the whole region to waste and land it in a war for years to come.
When we take all these facts together, and use that age-old principle of ‘cui bono?‘, ‘who benefits?‘, some things become abundantly clear.
Shame on such a government as the present US presidential administration.
* The Washington Post since not only was acquired by Jeff Bezos, amazon founder and Trump follower, it also recently suffered a big reduction of staff.
It is clear to anyone who follows politics closely: Mr Trump, President of the USA, is desperate. Nothing else explains the behaviour towards Iran: The USA are even historically famous for their need of oil. Of fossil fuels.
The economy in the USA is failing and has been for years just as it has everywhere else. The pandemic has taken its toll.
The weapons’ industry in the USA is the most powerful of all. When you don’t make war, you don’t need to produce weapons.
That’s why wars are so ‘profitable’: The president profits from the ‘noise’ and news around apparent enemies that have to be fought. No one will look at his criminal record anymore. (Link to New York Times article.)
The industry producing weapons also profits: The storage spaces will be lightened of their ‘burden’ and new weapons have to be bought.
With the tax payers’ money, to boot. And the soldiers that might die?
Let them not fool us: Iran’s internal politics are cruel and brutal towards their population, against human rights and especially those of women.
But this is not about Iran’s population: This is about its oil and the power and the money. It’s between Iran and the USA.
Later, March 1st 2026: What will happen, if a new government actually would be instated in Iran that of course would be cheek by jowl with the US? For decades the Palestinians had to try and hold their ground. Ground that was originally theirs to keep as per agreements after the founding of Israel.
What will happen to Iran itself? A copy of Western civilisations, with the values and particular ways gone…?
What will happen to its oil and the USA’s needs…?
Hopefully enough people will start thinking about this early. The factions inside and outside of Iran are even now distinctly discernible.
Let’s hope that a fate like that of Iraq will be spared them. Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein had been supported for decades by the USA as well. They even helped him getting ‘up’. When he started to become too independent, his fate was sealed.
The principle is as old as mankind itself: When you want to get somewhere, you need to know two things, basically: Your finish line – and your starting point.
PEACE is some goal…
When it is a problem to be solved it is important to not just get a hazy idea of some problem or issue… a clear idea of the true problem is vital. Since, trying to find a solution without the clearly identified problem is pointless and a waste of time.
In other words: To get a clear picture of reasons for people doing something – or a system failing, you would look into history: Because it can help to find similar situations you can learn from.
And: Nothing in this life worth having comes easy…but that’s no reason to despair, but: “Keep at it – and remember about the breaks.”
We have come quite some way, in general!
In the past, people for centuries actually found it a great pastime to visit public torture and public hangings!
That has stopped.
In most countries around the world the death penalty has been abolished!
The most simple principle in that respect I have mentioned too, already:
Whatever you colour, creed, or conviction, you are not supposed to either kill, torture or bother other people. Period.
So, again, our goal as societies that have learned a thing or two about communities and responsibility – most, if not all of us yearn for peace: For peaceful coexistence. For more mutual understanding.
People in power these days once more seem, at the moment at least, have begun to realize that they are not just powerful for their own fun – or into the bargain; but that they carry the responsibility for exactly that kind of thing with them, each and every day:
Keep the goal, the ultimate finish line, in focus.
Start thinking it through from the end.
Get proper counselling.
Remember that you are not alone on this planet and that your ‘powerful’ existence as such would be pretty pointless without all the others around….
Since the dawn of time, one might say, diplomacy and negotiations follow rules. Iran and its people have every reason to be proud of a culture that is thousands of years old. Painting, drawing, poetry, music, hand-knotted carpets renowned throughout the world, cuisine…you name it: Wherever you look, it is refined and unique.
In addition the culture and tradition also make for certain rules of behaviour in terms of dignity and pride to be observed when negotiating. At least the more experienced generations of diplomats in the West might still know about them. Many were well-known for centuries over here too.
Recent foreign politics initiated by a person called Trump who is president of the USA again, introduced his favourite way of ‘making deals’: Put the pressure on, bully, scare, and get what you want in the end.
Mr Trump never was one for subtleties, not really well-known for tact or refinement – so far.
I actually wrote to the office of the president a while ago. Perhaps they will care to talk to proper counsellers yet.
One thing is for sure: Iran is well aware of the achievements of its culture and history. They have self-confidence enough to value their dignity. They will not stoop to pressure or scare tactics.
“Weapons of mass destruction” – that was the phrase and apparent reason former president Bush used at the time to attack Iraq; where oil also exists in abundance…oil, yes. That kind of weapons, so it turned out: no.
The contracts with Iran had been there! Uranium enrichment control had been negotiated among others with the former president Barrack Obama, over a decade, actually. Trump cancelled them. Do we call that a ‘smart move’…?
If all of the people and organizations concerned are really interested in getting anywhere with this, start treating Iran as a country and equal opponent. Stop treating them like a wayward child.
There are enough people who know that Trump is not to be trusted. Neither is the statement about ‘just’ wanting to destroy the Uranium enrichment facilities in Iran. Nor the ideas in relation to tariff raises for all and any countries outside the US. That’s blackmail, pure and simple.
To start a war on a country to pressure it into deals is extortion.
Even inside the USA people protest against his politics.
As far as Iran is concerned, I wonder how it is possible that almost any diplomatic respect and rules for negotiation have apparently let go?
Since when would you try and pressurize or scare a whole country into a certain position, when before you yourself made negotiations impossible?
Trump cancelled those contracts that had been agreed upon between the US, EU and the IAEA after 10 years of negotiation!
Is it really feasible that any country – how about the US? – would take it like a scared animal, run, hide and then concede anything?
If you do not know yourself and human beings you cannot possibly understand others. Understanding the other, your opposite at the table, is crucial in order to negotiate.
Again I want to remind us all of the 30-Years’-War in Europe during the 17th century: It was not only a long war, with a number indicating that – it took actually 30 years and it left Europe devastated and devoid of more than 50% of its population; whole regions were left waste and destroyed.
The common history and latent memory of humans make it one of the dreadful periods of time. It took years to end that war!
Negotiations were conducted again and again.
Finally, they were successful.
The same way the first agreements about Uranium enrichment control between Iran and the parties concerned took 10 years!
It was the height of irresponsibility to cancel those contracts!
Years later, a country under threats from all sides is moved into a position that leaves almost no way out…
People, start thinking: This is no way to handle that country and its situation!
Iran, for all its internal politics of cruelty and suppression, with reason is proud of a rich and thousands of years old culture and tradition, much older than the Islamic religion.
Additionally, they are used to natural disasters and foreign potentates from all sides attacking that country just for its rich soils, and huge amounts of oil and gas. They had to learn resilience and it has developed into a fine art, basically.
Starting a war can only end in dreadful consequences and more lives lost, yet.
