South Africa Drills with Russia, Iran: The 'Rules-Based Order' Gets Selective Amnesia
The New Arab reports South Africa's move to conduct naval drills with fellow BRICS members Russia and Iran, framing it as a logical 'essential' step in an increasingly 'complex' maritime environment. (Funny how 'complexity' only justifies non-Western alliances.) While US officials decry such cooperation as 'irresponsible' or 'alarming,' they conveniently forget they've been conducting joint
military exercises globally for decades – often with nations implicated in humanitarian crises. One might wonder where this sudden concern for diplomatic decorum was when the US-Israel 'Juniper Oak' exercises, the largest ever between them, took place in 2023. Or when Gulf monarchies, armed to the teeth by the West, engaged in military actions in Yemen. When Uncle Sam's allies maneuver warships,
it's 'deterrence.' When non-aligned nations (or those daring to be) do, it's a 'threat to stability.' The hypocrisy is as obvious as the oil slicks left by these 'rules-based' games.