Lebanon and Trump’s imaginary peace deal |
When Donald Trump announces another ‘peace deal’, the claim often dissolves under scrutiny. His latest assertion — ending an Israel–Lebanon war — adds to a pattern of victories declared online but absent on the ground
Last year, the United States Department of State had released a contested post on the social media of President Donald Trump, claiming that he had ended 7 wars in 7 months. The list had included the wars in Rwanda-Congo, Kosovo-Serbia, Egypt-Ethiopia, India-Pakistan, etc. They later issued a dramatically revised list of 8 wars in 8 months to include what they claimed was the end of the Israel-Hamas war (it is still on). Recently, Trump continued his unsubstantiated claims by announcing that he had previously solved 9 wars (he did not clarify which 9th war) across the world, and now had just ended the Israel-Lebanon war as his 10th peace deal.
Not known for his sense of history, facts, or even nuance in what he keeps claiming, the historically wounded and deeply fractured land of Lebanon becomes the latest “trophy” in Trump’s make-believe accomplishments. Besides the fact that Delhi has explicitly denied any hand of the United States of America in ending the Indo-Pak war, Serbia has clarified that it had no intention of going to war with Kosovo, and meanwhile, the violence in Congo and the Israeli war with Hamas continues unabated. Going by the credibility of Trump’s claims, the missing 9th war that he is supposed to have ended could........