Behind the rhetoric of democracy lies a brutal geopolitical truth, oil, the US dollar, and a quiet war against BRICS.
Of course the war in Iran is about freedom. It's always about freedom. Freedom and democracy and puppies and nuclear non proliferation.
But let's not kid ourselves.
Trump's strike on Iran isn't just about liberating long suffering Iranians from a theocratic regime.
It's also about oil. And power. And who gets to write the rules of the global economy.
By the way, that doesn't make it wrong. If someone is going to sit at the head of the geopolitical table carving up influence, I'd rather it be Washington than Beijing. Call me old fashioned.
Still, we should be adult enough to admit what's happening.
The Middle East has always been about two things, theology and oil. The theology gets the headlines, oil pays the bills.
The US dollar dominates global oil trade. That little arrangement keeps the greenback strong, even while America runs debts large enough to make the Jacinta Allan Government look fiscally responsible.
As long as the world needs dollars to buy oil, the dollar stays king.
Enter BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. A club of nations with a shared hobby, trading energy in anything but US dollars.
The BRICS nations have been experimenting with alternative currencies and, more provocatively, buying oil from sanctioned states like Iran and Venezuela.
Because nothing says "multipolar world" like a discounted barrel of embargoed crude.
To pull this off, they've relied on what's politely called a "shadow tanker fleet." Ships meet at sea. Oil gets blended. Venezuelan heavy shakes hands with Iranian light. Add a splash of Russian for flavour. Suddenly the chemical signature is murky enough to pass as plausible deniability.
Presto. Sanctioned oil becomes "mysterious origin" oil.
India and China get cheap energy. Sanctioned regimes get cash. The US dollar gets quietly undermined.
Trump's actions in Venezuela and now Iran hit that system squarely between the eyes.
Yes, removing a brutal regime is good.
Yes, the Islamic Republic has been a global exporter of misery.
But crippling Iran also disrupts the alternative oil trade that was slowly detaching from the US dollar.
That's not a side effect. That's strategy.
Trump's action against Iran weakens BRICS energy independence while reinforcing the petrodollar.
So yes, the Iranian people may well benefit if the regime collapses. That would be a moral win.
But let's not pretend this is a Marvel movie.
It's geopolitics. It's oil. It's power.
And in this particular contest, the outcome strengthens the US dollar and weakens its rivals.
On balance?
That's not a bad day's work.
https://news.senatorbabet.com.au/p/its-not-just-about-freedom-here-is