Press Review – Trump's Tuesday deadline: Will he really ‘bomb Iran into the Stone Age’? – France 24
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PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, April 7: Donald Trump’s blatantly disregards accusations of war crimes as he vows to bomb Iran’s energy infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Australia’s most decorated military veteran is arrested and charged with alleged war crimes during the war in Afghanistan. Le Monde looks at how the secret construction of a military base in Somaliland could serve the US, the UAE and Israel. And: Gen Alpha rediscover the joys – and challenges – of landlines!
IN THE PRESS – Australia’s most decorated war vet has been arrested over war crimes, and it is dominating the press there. Ben Roberts Smith, who is a recipient of Britain’s Victoria Cross medal, was arrested and charged with five counts of war crime murders. It pertains to the deaths of five people during his stint in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The Sydney Morning Herald reminds us that Roberts Smith unsuccessfully sued the paper for defamation in 2018 over the reporting of these allegations. At the time, the AUS$25 million civil case was the first time in history a court examined claims of war crimes by Australian forces. His final appeal was dismissed last year. The paper publishes the chilling, gruesome details of his alleged crimes. It begins with the most high-profile murder of a farmer in Darwan who was kicked off a slope and then shot in the head. Roberts Smith is also accused of having killed a man with a prosthetic leg and then using the prosthetic as a novelty beer drinking vessel. The Herald writes: If evidence follows in the same way, the jury will hear how “Australia’s most decorated living soldier is a serial killer who relished his crimes”. The paper also details the lengths to which he went to justify or cover up the alleged crimes.
To the war in Iran where Donald Trump said he is not concerned by war crimes. It comes after the US president threatened to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure if the regime does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s statement has prompted French paper Liberation to declare, “Donald Trump – the lunatic” on its front page. A very nice play on words – the word “lunaire” is juxtaposed with the successfully flyby of the moon by NASA’s Artemis II crew. The Times of London publishes this front-page photo – Donald Trump, Melania and the Easter Bunny posing during festivities on Monday. The Guardian’s columnist here writes that Trump began easter Monday at the White House standing next to a giant bunny and boasting about the war in Iran to a group of children conjuring a “fitting image of a US president falling down what people would call the rabbit hole”. It adds: “Blatant and brazen, Trump seems to take every crude stereotype the world has about American chauvinism, jingoism and imperialism and sets about proving them true.”
Trump’s blatant disregard for war crimes accusations is highly ironic, according to a writer for the Australian think-tank Lowy Institute. He has threatened a “bridge and power day” in Iran. Yet, in November 2022, when Russia deliberately targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure, the Pentagon called it a war crime. The article says: “Those words are now the measure by which America’s own threatened campaign will be judged, by allies, adversaries – and history.” As the Guardian reminds us, it puts US service members in an unthinkable dilemma: disobey orders or commit war crimes.
The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the US’s estrangement with the EU has it looking to other partnerships, in Africa. Le Monde’s reporters travelled to Somaliland and exposed a hidden construction site on the outskirts of Berbera, a coastal city in the self-proclaimed republic. Its airport is being transformed into a military base for three of its allies, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Israel, the latter was the first and only country to recognise Somaliland’s independence last December. Le Monde says that Somaliland has piqued the interest of its allies because of its proximity to the strategic Bab el Mandeb strait. It could serve to launch attacks on Yemen. Currently, neighbouring Djibouti – where there is a US base – does not allow this for fear of reprisals. But Somaliland may be more compliant, in exchange for a US recognition of its sovereignty.
Finally, the Wall Street Journal details how parents in the US are increasingly putting landlines back in homes to dissuade their kids from getting smartphones! The paper recounts how parents have purchased modern versions of the humble old landline – equipped with Wi-Fi but no screens. It has become a handy tool for their kids to use to talk to friends but without fearing an addiction to screens. Companies have piggybacked on the popularity, producing enticing versions of the landline. There are challenges though – children discover that landlines come with some etiquette. One child learned that it is not OK to call 17 times on the landline. While others discover that if you hold the landline receiver in front of your face like a cell phone, there is no sound! Mind you, it costs more – but at least parents say they can delay the transition to a smartphone for just a little bit longer!
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
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