Pakistan, June 25 -- Tel Aviv's June 13 attack on Iran was a geopolitical farce - one that masqueraded as strategy but was, at its core, the erratic outburst of a state no longer bound by restraint, international law, or even the pretence of credibility. This assault was not defence; it was spectacle. A theatre of militarism performed under the withering banner of "pre-emptive action," designed less to prevent catastrophe than to manufacture it. At the heart of this pyrotechnic aggression stood Benjamin Netanyahu, a man beset by scandals at home. He ignited the spark with the fervour of a leader desperate to remain relevant.

The rationale was thin, and the narrative recycled from the same tired playbook that led to Baghdad in 2003. We we...