A week after the US and Iran launched the Iran war I wrote in these columns, on March 6, that all wars were likely not to proceed as expected by those who began them; that they were subject to the law of unintended consequences. The Iran war has proved to be no exception. Reports indicate the Israeli intelligence persuaded a willing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a decapitating strike would lead to the extinction of Iran’s vilayat-e-faqih system through a popular uprising. It is likely that they pointed to the January riots in Iran which were fuelled by great economic distress. It would appear that Netanyahu was able to bring US President Donald Trump to the same conclusion. Trump was greatly buoyed up by the quick success achieved by US forces in capturing Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Caracas this January. There have also been credible news reports that some sections of his administration, including a few of his senior colleagues, had advised Trump against beginning the Iran war. However, Trump had the bit between his teeth and went ahead. He is now facing unanticipated problems. 

The law of unintended consequences has caught up with him. This has been vividly brought out by one of the leading newspapers of not only the US but the world. Trump calls its reports as fake news but the newspaper is respected the world over and its........

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