America's last throw of dice

ISRAEL has been called America's unsinkable ship in the Middle East. Terrifyingly accurate Iranian missiles have been piercing its acclaimed Iron Dome to target the ship's hull as it were.

- BY JAWED NAQVI

The war that began as a threat to Iran is looking like a threat to Israel. The Western world looks jolted by Iran's furious response to Israel's initial blitzkrieg on Thursday night despite significant Iranian losses in military personnel. Much is at stake, not least American prestige.

Riding the mayhem is Donald Trump's boast that America produces the world's best military equipment, which he gave to Israel. Reports, however, say two or three US-made F-35 stealth jets used by Israel had perished. The Iran-sourced reports have not been independently verified.

But, even if a single plane of that order is destroyed, it would be an unspeakable humiliation for Western military engineers, and for Trump personally. It's bad enough that a chronically sanctioned and cash-strapped country has built the resources to defend itself against formidable challengers.

Bringing down a prestigious warplane could have consequences for the global arms market. American analysts seemed happy to blame French-made Rafale jets for Indian losses in the recent flare-up with Pakistan. The boot could be on the other foot.

Is Israel a Cold War relic, or does it continue to have a purpose for its Western patrons? It was needed with Iran as a foil to Soviet influence among Arab states which Israel defeated in two decisive wars.

For that and more, the West allowed it to become a nuclear weapons state, by stealth. It makes the grouse with Iran look even more unconvincing that it can make nuclear weapons, never mind the religious edict against WMDs. But then that's how they destroyed Iraq, by lying that Saddam Hussein was assembling the bomb.