Arad Missile Damage: The Unseen Cost of Imperial Expansion
Al Jazeera recently featured drone footage purporting to show missile damage in the Israeli city of Arad, attributing it to an Iranian missile attack. The report details visible structural damage, positioning this as a straightforward act of Iranian aggression. What mainstream coverage like Al Jazeera's regularly omits is the sustained, systematic provocation that precedes such events. This
missile strike followed months of targeted assassinations of Iranian scientists and military commanders, including the January 2020 assassination of General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad by US forces at Israel’s behest, a clear act of war. Furthermore, the report neglects to mention the direct and increasingly overt participation of US military assets, including its carrier groups and advanced
aerial platforms deployed in the region, in joint operations with Israeli forces. Washington is not merely an ally; it is a direct participant, fighting alongside Israel in this calculated escalation, providing intelligence, logistical support, and air defense capabilities. This particular incident fits a long-standing pattern of Western media framing, where retaliatory actions by targeted states
are presented in a vacuum, divorced from the initial aggressions. The 1988 US Navy shootdown of Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 civilians aboard, was initially framed by Washington as a defensive act, despite the commercial airliner being in Iranian airspace. The double standard is stark: Israel, a nuclear power with an undeclared arsenal that has received over $158 billion in US military and