Do not mention the war!

I am fixated with the news, watching as the war in Iran unfolds and random press declarations by politicians reveal a confusion that no one would have expected. 

US President Donald Trump may appear like a frenzied warmonger, but his tone is consistent with the image of what America has always been for many in the world. It is the US of Nixon, Reagan and Bush, characterised by a strong sense of self-entitlement and a green card to kill, maim and dictate policy around the world. In the past, it was toppling a democratically elected government that was not in synch with US policy; yesterday, it was arming Israel to carry out a war of attrition; and tomorrow it means installing a puppet to say yes to anything the US wishes for. 

Iran is an authoritarian theocratic state, but removing its leaders and asking the Iranians to appoint a new one after clearing the proposed name with Donald Trump is laughable and outrageous. 

I truly wonder whether Donald Trump still believes he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and whether the Maltese foreign minister is still nominating him for it. 

As was the case in Iraq with the dictator Saddam Hussein and the fake claim that he was in possession of weapons of mass destruction, everyone knows that Trump’s claims that Iran was planning an imminent attack on the US are a big lie. All the evidence proves the complete opposite. 

And yet this 80-year-old narcissistic felon, a former reality show host and real estate magnate, has no compunction, declaring that the America-first doctrine means that everything, including international law and human rights, comes second. 

As retired Colonel David Attard said on TVM’s Xtra this week, the sole winner in this ‘all-out war’ is Israel. And the endgame for Trump is for US oil companies to control Iran’s reserves. That is his only interest, apart from serving as Israel’s lapdog. 

Malta as a neutral country has called for peace and dialogue, and yet we fail to recognise that Iran was just doing that–negotiating peace. In the midst of these peace talks, Israel and the US suddenly rained missiles on Tehran. In the process, they killed the supreme leader when he was in his bunker. 

Not even in the darkest hours of World War II and even the Vietnam War did opposing parties break the basic understanding of not killing the negotiators or leaders. 

Like the US, Israel believes it has a god given right to break every rule in the book to justify its actions. 

But for most Maltese the war is just a distraction. They seem to appreciate that nothing will change for them. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has already stated that subsidies for energy will continue as if nothing has changed, or will change.

The boat will continue sailing. No finance minister in his right senses would say such a thing. Until I wrapped up this column, oil and gas analysts were saying that the price of oil could spike to $150 a barrel in the coming weeks and “bring down the economies of the world.” 

Any country still arguing that nothing would change and that we are resilient enough to take the brunt are living in cuckoo land. In my eyes, such a statement is rooted in the belief that no changes that rock the boat should happen before an election so as not to ruffle feathers. 

If I were to be truthful, this crisis should encourage the government to recognise the opportunity to calibrate some of the energy subsidy schemes that support families and businesses. Why should we go on subsidising energy costs indiscriminately at all costs?  Surely, we cannot subsidise activities, which are purely recreational such as fuel for pleasure boats. And why is there is no form of capping or limit to subsidies? 

If energy will continue to be subsidised it does not follow that the price tag of imported foodstuffs and retail products will not change. The inflationary effect will reach us eventually and no one will be able to stop it. 

It is high time that we understand that Malta is not a continent, but a small island floating in a free market economy. Surely, we do not need to have our arms twisted to argue that economic policies cannot be determined by electoral exigencies. 

Alex Borg 

Alex Borg is hanging out there waiting for something to happen. But he needs to take the first step and address his biggest lacuna—his team. 

People have not quite visualised who are the people in his team. 

Voters may not agree with this government but they will always go with the devil they know, rather than the one they do not. 

Borg is in bad need of a brand-new deputy leader and a credible shadow minister for finance. 

The Labour Party will surely win the next election unless Borg addresses these lacunas, not to mention the need to abandon proposals such as the four-day week and his obsession with hybrid work.