SAM HAWKSMOOR - 2026

April - The Blame Game

If you fire a gun into the air you cannot know where the bullet will land. Similarly, if you start a war you do not know how it will end, or what the unintended consequences will be hubris is guaranteed. No matter how you might threaten your victims to come to the negotiating table, they know that the more you bluster and threaten you are in fact strengthening their resolve and determination to survive.

Trump, egged on by his ludicrous Secretary of War, launched a war with Iran without consulting his allies and declared victory after three days of bombing. Now we are in the second month of that war and the economic consequences are being felt worldwide. You can debate the merits of a war against an evil regime that has crushed its own people (especially women) for 47 years, never mind the hopes and dreams of the people of Palestine and Lebanon. But was there a better way of dealing with them? One that didn’t spin the world into a major depressions and cause shortages of oil, gas, aluminium, helium, fertiliser and assorted other essential ingredients for modern life.

I get it that Iran will fight back (aided by Putin) and even attack all those who prospered around the gulf, but they too could have prospered if they had chosen to, after all they have so much oil. They chose ideology over prosperity.  It’s one thing for Trump to declare victory and walk away leaving smoking ruins but the world will know this is a lie and it will leave Iran to exact revenge all around the gulf for decades to come. In fact Trump has increased their power with every bomb that drops and enriched Russia, so that they are more able to defeat Ukraine. (Again Trump won’t mind that). The Cease Fire announced on April 8th is meaningless as the Straight of Hormuz is still blocked or subject to tolls from Iran as Lebanon is being destroyed block by block by Israel. Civilization may not have ended in Iran but the concept of it surely has in the USA.
           
You might be in a line-up for fuel right now or wondering why food prices are starting to double. You may even discover you have just been laid off due to shortages of everything, but whom do you blame? Trump, Netanyahu or Iran? 
           
They say no one actually 'wins' a war; the price is always too high to pay. Sure there are causes worth fighting for, but at least make a case for it, bring in allies, show a united front, such as Germany faced in WW2. Don’t start a war without a plan on how to stop it, or daily insult your friends and allies.
           
North Korea is watching very carefully, no doubt very happy they have a nuclear weapon in their back pocket as Trump threatens to walk away from NATO yet again.

Photos © Sam Hawksmoor April 9th 2026
Author of The Days After She Went Dancing and The Repossession of Genie Magee series.

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