Fog of war

Fog of war | Daily Tribune

It’s another story, however, if someone unrepentantly pursues a hardened, persistent refusal to rectify stupidity.

Enduring repeated stupidities eventually is injurious, fatal even to the body politic now helpless on the edge of economic catastrophe if fuel supplies are choked at the Strait of Hormuz, for instance.

Indeed, staring at a darkening abyss is our common lot nowadays. And, if we don’t throttle our polarized politics in the next few days, we’re all going to strangle ourselves even before we see the bottom.

An exaggeration? No. At the moment, everyone — even those who are doing all the bombing and missile attacks in the latest Middle East turmoil — are stumped on whether or not the conflict can now be easily contained.

A haunting unpredictability amplified militarily, as I write this, by the unnerving fact that just several days into the conflict, wave upon wave of Iranian drone attacks are depleting the defensive weapons stockpiles of the US and its regional allies. The hostilities have become attritional, so much so that no war geek or planner can expertly tell which side will run out of munitions first.

Not only do stocks of offensive and defensive weapons serve as temperature checks to the turmoil, it also presents its own unique paradox.

First raised in the Ukrainian war, the tightening Middle East war once more firmly demonstrates that cheap weapons are chewing up expensive weapons, that is the US and the Gulf states are expending US$4-million missiles to destroy US$20,000 drones.

Who succumbs first to military and economic pains remains unanswered and this even as the fog of war further escalates global and domestic instabilities.

Certainly, however, the millions of anxious Filipinos in the Middle East would want answers sooner than later.

But for pragmatic overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), it seems they’re seeking answers from Middle East governments rather than from their home government, needing only quiet assurances from here that they’ll be able to scoot out if things spiral out of control.

Take, for instance, a Filipina caregiver in Israel who told a reporter last Tuesday that she couldn’t envision leaving Israel unless she had “no choice,” adding “we have families in the Philippines who rely on us.”

Her position practically illustrates the fact that for millions of stranded OFWs what counts more for them is how this government ensures their families here survive the current crisis.

Which only says that OFWs there and Filipinos here are in no mood for seriously entertaining political dissemblers squeezing partisan political drama out of the Middle East turmoil.

Filipinos, in short, are clearly demanding substantial and meaningful efforts should oil and food prices surge and that whatever political decisions to be made shouldn’t be divorced from the economic risks.