LET us move away a while from the Israel-Hamas conflict and look at Israel’s staunchest supporter.

The latest gun massacre of innocent people in the United States on Wednesday killed at least 18 people and injured 13. A leading Republican presidential candidate said the problem is not that US has too many firearms, but that it has too few therapists.

So, it is not a gun problem but a therapy shortage.

US President Joe Biden issued a now routine statement mourning for the victims and signed an executive order to expand the use of background checks for firearm purchases.

The politics of guns in the US is sacrosanct and gun violence is a fixture in American life. There were 390 million guns in circulation in 2018 with a ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents. About 7.5 million became new gun owners between 2019 and April 2021.

In the year-to-date, there have been 565 shootings where four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter. The deadliest attack in Las Vegas in 2017, killed more than 50 people and 500 wounded. A 2023 report stated that between 2014 to 2022, there had been 4011 mass shootings in the US. I repeat mass shootings only.

Firearms kill more than 50 people are killed each day. About 81% of US murders in 2021 – 20,958 out of 26,031 – involved a firearm.

Perpetrators are mostly middle-aged white males.

Many states allow the right to carry a firearm without a licence or a permit. Thousands of Americans have now had a family member killed or injured as a result of gun violence.

I think US is in a real crisis with lots of mental health problems. Could it have spread to its political leaders?

Given the above, do you think US cares about peoples’ lives, let alone its own citizens, and in a position to broker peace deals? Millions have died and have been maimed in US invasions around the world in the name of democracy. Millions more made homeless.

US instigated regional disputes and directly launch wars under the guise of promoting democracy, freedom and human rights. It has also forced unilateral sanctions and practised double standards towards international laws, even discarding them as it sees fit.

The hegemonic abuse covers political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields. All resulting in humanitarian tragedies, looting, exploitation, monopoly and suppression

US wants the whole world to follow its values and political system and placing its self-interest first. Arbitrarily passes judgment on democracy in other countries. It walked away from international treaties and organisations and put its domestic laws above international laws.

Violence and expansion have shaped American history. As former president Jimmy Carter put it, the US is undoubtedly the most warlike nation in the history of the world.

The time has come for US to conduct some serious soul-searching on the destruction it has done to the whole world. The arrogance, prejudices, domineering and bullying practices must stop.

Maybe it is time to call in the therapists.

What say you? – October 29, 2023.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.