Gearóid Ó Loingsigh
Reprinted from author’s substack 11 March 2026 and reformatted for Rebel Breeze
(Reading time: mins.)
On February 28th the Zionist regime of Israel and the USA commenced a lethal bombing campaign against Iran, choosing as their first target a school where more than 168 girls were murdered.
The Western press took its time in questioning the attack and the western governments never really did.
The press “explains” that the school was near a centre of the Revolutionary Guard, but they don’t explain that it was a cultural centre and a clinic and pharmacy all of which enjoy protection under the Geneva Conditions.
They tell us that these places “perhaps explain the attack.”[1] Well no, they don’t. They remain war crimes.
Iran’s response was robust. So robust that the western press and politicians condemned it and asked Iran to not attack the other states of the region (calling the Emirates countries or nations is a bit much).
They never asked the US or its attack dog, Israel, to cease its attacks.
Iranian civilians are less important than investments in Dubai and other places. Iran attacked military bases, radar installations and hotels housing US soldiers who had transferred there given the possibility of an attack on their bases. The counterattacks uncovered some truths.
The first one is that the Arab monarchies of the region are nothing more than US lapdogs and the myths about their economies went up in smoke in seconds. They are not safe places to invest in and less so to live in as shown by the mass of tiktokers crying into the camera.
It is worth pointing out that many of them boasted about not paying taxes and one or other explicitly stated they had set up in the region in order not to pay taxes and now they want their respective governments to spend taxes that they not only didn’t pay but didn’t want to in order to rescue them.
It might be that Dubai and the other monarchies never fully recover.
Another truth that was revealed is the real role of US military bases. The Yanks like to say that it is to protect and defend the countries they are located in against attacks.
That myth also went up in smoke just like the myth of Dubai as a safe place for digital nomads, tiktokers, bankers and even drug traffickers like the Kinahans who have lived there openly for the last number of years.[2] They will all have to think of other places.
The military bases were not capable of defending the monarchies and moreover the US transferred a good part of its military capability to Israel and left them to their fate.
Recently the president of South Korea announced that the USA had transferred part of its defence system to Israel.[3] The presented lamented the situation but explained that there was little he could do, i.e. the USA decides everything.
In the case of Spain, President Sánchez said he would not allow the USA to use the shared military bases in the country to launch attacks on Iran. Trump’s response revealed the real role these bases play and the real authority over them.
He said they didn’t need them, but if they want to, no one is going to tell them no.[4] In many of the military bases, in law, it is the host country that commands and controls the base. The reality is otherwise and Trump showed it.
In others cases, particularly in Japan and some European countries it is the US that has formal control.
The bases are not there to defend the host countries but rather to defend US interests and to act as they see fit. The Arab monarchies have just learnt that lesson the hard way. Spain has yet to, but Trump has warned them that it is in practice he who decides what is done, where and how.
This brings us to the question of military bases in Colombia. Theoretically Colombia has authority over the bases and can limit what is done. In practice it is not so.
The supposedly progressive government of Gustavo Petro never did anything to expel the Yanks from the bases in the country. Nor is he going to do so in the few remaining months of his presidency.
The question is what will the new government that comes into office on August 7th do? For the moment it looks like the next president will be Iván Cepeda from the same political force as Gustavo Petro.
In the midst of tensions between Colombia and the USA Cepeda stated from Madrid that Colombia wasn’t a Yankee colony.[5] When he is president he will have ample time to prove it and can start on August 7th by ordering the north American troops out of the country.
The rest of the countries in the world should do the same.
It is clear that the bases are an extension of the USA and at all times serve it and nobody else.
End.
Note: You may wish to read other articles by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh on his substack https://gearoidloingsigh.substack.com/
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NOTES
1] The Guardian (10/03/2026) Minab school bombing: what evidence is there that the US was responsible? Tess McClure. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/mar/10/iran-minab-school-bombing-shajareh-tayyebeh-primary-what-evidence-us-responsible
[2] Middle East Eye (08/03/2026) Investigation finds ‘notorious cartel leaders’ living openly in Dubai. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/investigation-finds-kinahan-cartel-leaders-living-openly-dubai
[3] The Korea Times (10/03/2026) S. Korea regrets transfer of USFK air defense assets to Middle East, Lee says. Anna J. Park. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/defense/20260310/s-korea-regrets-transfer-of-usfk-air-defense-assets-to-middle-east-lee-says
[4] PBS (04/03/2026) Spain denies cooperating with US military operations in Middle East, contradicting White House. AP. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/spain-denies-cooperating-with-u-s-military-operations-in-middle-east-contradicting-white-house
[5] See
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