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The writer is a freelancer based in Kandhkot, Sindh. He can be reached at alihassanb.34@gmail.com
The world has always feared natural disasters. It fears the storm. It should fear more the man who professes peace but ignites wars with the belief that he controls and outwits everything. And certainly, the “Board of Peace”.
Though the world has long been wary of catastrophes that destabilise civilisations and upend the natural order, these threats do not always arrive in the form of earthquakes, pandemics or floods. The existential crises that haunt humanity are not always calamities born of nature — they are, in many instances, anthropogenic, avoidable, and largely manufactured by the people who hold power. The warmonger is a far greater threat than the war itself, for the latter can sometimes be avoided, managed or ended. Worse, however, are the ones who are armed with Armageddon thoughts and reckless impulses and are dictated by their past sins so much that their actions are consequential yet have little control, synchronicity or predictability, as the world sees in Trump’s role.
Prince Paris of Troy, son of King Priam and Hecuba, is a central figure in Greek mythology who triggered the Trojan War by abducting Helen of Sparta. Driven by impulsive ambition with little strategic foresight, the prince abducted Helen, which sparked a protracted war between Troy and Sparta which, besides claiming legendary heroes, left the Greek victors facing prolonged tragedies and malediction. Though unintended, Paris’s escalation led to an unending cycle of vengeance, alliances and counter-alliances, and widespread destruction.
A similar dynamic can be seen in the Trump-led US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on 28 February 2026, which decapitated Iran’s Supreme Leader, with two main differences: one, Trump’s action is largely driven by hubris, paranoia, his sinful past inscribed in the Epstein Files, and the behest of genocidal Israel. Two, the suffering isn’t just for the warring parties. If viewed as an otherwise avoidable aggression, Trump’s action of igniting a rapid chain of reactions and retaliations without a clear and considerable long-term strategy or an end mirrors Paris’s act.
In response to joint Trump-Bibi aggression, Iran’s counterstrikes on US bases, Israel and regional allies are disrupting global oil shipments, and risking a broader regional or even global conflict involving nuclear perils, economic turmoil, soaring energy prices and massive human suffering.
In this parallel, Trump fits the role of Paris: the character who serves as the catalyst for uncontrollable, far-reaching devastation for personal, Israeli-sponsored and vague and controversial objectives. A war with no clear objectives rarely has an end in sight.
The US-led strikes on Iran have been justified using three contradictory rationales: 1) defensive necessity — an imminent Iranian threat — was asserted without evidence; 2) officials denied pursuing regime change while simultaneously calling for it and bombing Iran’s military and leadership; and 3) Operation Epic Fury set specific military objectives (destroying missiles, naval forces and nuclear capabilities), yet strikes continued even after Trump declared Iran’s nuclear programme “obliterated” last year in the aftermath of the 12-Day War with Iran. The shifting, self-contradicting justifications suggest the war was driven by intent first, with reasons constructed after the fact.
What emerges from this cascade of shifting justifications is a portrait of a military campaign that America entered without a clear articulation of its own purpose or endgame. Like the Trojan decade-long siege, this Trump-led war could drag on and besiege the world, exhausting resources and leaving all sides scarred, with a high-stakes situation as momentum builds.
The path forward demands global diplomatic solutions, not military escalation, enforcing accountability for reckless aggression, and rebuilding international frameworks that prevent impulsive leaders from dragging the world into catastrophic wars. The planet and the lives of 8.3 billion should not be left to Trumps, boards and genocidal regimes.
