APROPOS the editorial ‘World policeman’ (Jan 5). The assassination of a senior Iranian general has sent shockwaves all over the world and brought it to the brink of war.

President Donald Trump’s thoughtless action is a flagrant violation of international laws and the Geneva Convention. Such one-sided acts are tantamount to increasing the enemies of the United States.

President Trump should stop acting as a trigger-happy global policeman driving the world towards the brink of destruction and pushing the Middle East towards another conflagration.

It is no surprise that America is derided in the Middle East. The US has always supported anti-people regimes in the region. Besides, an unholy nexus exists between the US and Israel which collectively jeopardises peace through its aggressive behaviour.

America should act maturely according to the status that it enjoys in the world, while Tehran should also express willingness to smoke the peace pipe with Washington.

Mannan Samad
Turbat

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THERE is a sense of relief among the people that Pakistan will not take sides in the case of a US-Iran conflict. It is my belief that in a war, the military’s suffering is very small compared to civilians, who are the ultimate losers.

As Pakistanis, every day we are haunted by our past participation in the Afghan conflict for which the country has paid dearly.

Besides, Pakistan’s image has been tarnished and tainted and it has taken us a long time to come out of this quagmire.

Nasir Soomro
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2020