To the moon and stone age

After US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats this week to send Iran back into the Stone Age, where do we think this war that has entered its second month is going? And how would it affect the world that has been pushed into a state of chaos?

A short time before midnight on Thursday, the people of Pakistan were bombed by their own government with an unprecedented increase in the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel. This pushed the country into economic turmoil, touching almost every household except the very rich.

Even when this seemed unavoidable, the consequential burden on the weak shoulders of the people was obviously unbearable. Immediately, the reality of this situation began to assert itself on the minds of those who sit at the table of authority. Hence, exactly 24 hours later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had to address the nation to announce a reduction in petrol prices.

This presentation by the prime minister before midnight on Friday was a sad and even alarming reflection of Pakistan’s poor economic state. This war, which has driven up energy costs, has exposed many of our foundational weaknesses. We had built no defences against such unforeseen disasters. Now, suddenly, we confront challenges that test the collective strength and sense of purpose of an impoverished society.

How pleased we have been with our diplomatic triumph in serving as a mediator in this war. This is certainly an achievement and one hopes that the prospect of meaningful negotiations between the US and Iran is not yet totally defeated.

However, all attention is now shifted to the battlefield. President Trump’s address to the nation on Wednesday evening — Thursday morning in Pakistan — clearly signaled an escalation and its evidence was available soon after, with the US and Israel stepping up their attacks on Iran. In response, Iran launched more missiles toward Israel and the Gulf countries.

One major development was that on Friday, Iran shot down an American fighter jet over the country.

This was revealed at about the same time that CNN was broadcasting its exclusive report on recent US intelligence assessments, which said that roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers were still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remained in Iran’s arsenal despite the daily pounding by US and Israeli attacks against military targets over the past five weeks. CNN has quoted sources familiar with intelligence.

This only means that action from either side has picked up and there will be many updates for the news pages. But the focus on what is supposed to be a kind of roundup should largely rest on President Trump and on his shifting stances. In this respect, his fixation on the Stone Age metaphor is intriguing and instructive. As if he is set to destroy all structures in Iran that characterise a modern country if its leaders do not agree to his terms to end the war.

It so happens that President Trump addressed the nation from the White House, with his threat to bomb Iran into the Stone Age, on the same day that America launched its mission to the moon, a truly inspiring enterprise that exemplifies extraordinary human achievement. With this capability to venture into outer space, America is also willing to send a country back to a prehistoric existence.

I need not go into any details, but Nasa’s Artemis II is a high-stakes voyage around the moon that, according to published reports, marks the boldest step by the US yet towards returning humans to the lunar surface in the near future. Four astronauts, including a woman for the first time in history, are taking part in the lunar mission, the first crewed journey to the moon since 1972.

This is a 10-day mission to circle the moon and travel further from Earth than any human before. At its start, one astronaut said: “We go for all humanity”. Very pious thought, no doubt. But humanity as such lies wounded by an unjustified war that the US has started in collusion with Israel.

Let me recall that memorable phrase spoken by Neil Armstrong in July 1969 when he became the first person to set foot on the moon: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”. Ah, but how many giant leaps would mankind need to return to the Stone Age? Or just one nuclear step?

Anyhow, it was first in a post on Truth Social that Trump used the expression, which has also been used by other American leaders. He wrote that until the Strait of Hormuz is open, “we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages !!!” He spoke similar words in an interview with Reuters.

However, his address on Wednesday was a formal, supposedly thought-out statement. He said: “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks, we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Age, where they belong”.

Oh, where do they belong? Not surprisingly, Trump’s Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, was more succinct. His post on X was just five words: “Back to the Stone Age”.

Naturally, Iran has responded to this, also with action in the arena of war. In one social media post, a commander of the Revolutionary Guards noted Trump’s threat, adding: “Hollywood delusions have so poisoned your minds that with your paltry 250-year history, you threaten a civilisation over 6,000 years old”.

Again and again, Trump has boasted about the exploits of his military in destroying Iran’s capacity to continue fighting. Just a few days ago, Pete Hegseth said that the US had achieved total control of Iran’s skies for the first time since the war began. On Friday, by downing an American fighter jet, Iran’s military showed that it still can fight back. What can happen when a mighty power confronts an old civilisation?

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer's own and don't necessarily reflect Geo.tv's editorial policy.

Originally published in The News