Epstein’s War… in the Gulf

As I See 

Adel El-Baz

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It was hardly a coincidence that this cursed war began with the bombing of a school for underage girls in the Minab area of Iran. On February 28, 2026, the “Shajarat Tayiba” school was struck, killing 165 girls, according to official Iranian reports and investigations by Al Jazeera, The New York Times, and Reuters. Other estimates place the death toll between 168 and 180, most of them students aged 7 to 12, with at least 95 injured.

Wars that are born without moral restraint often begin with a crime. Such crimes announce from the outset the ethical bankruptcy of war, its disregard for law, and the absence of any human face to its violence—much like the brutal Janjaweed war we are witnessing today.

At the heart of the decaying moral empire surrounding Epstein was the abuse of hundreds of underage girls, whose innocence was violated without regard for ethics, religion, tradition, or law. The same moral features and disturbing parallels appear in the Gulf war today. Some wars resemble a vast moral scandal, exposing what had long been concealed within the international system.

The war unfolding in the Gulf can therefore be described—without exaggeration—as “Epstein’s War.” Not because the name of a single man is directly present in it, but because its moral logic closely resembles the logic that governed the Epstein scandal.

The case of Jeffrey Epstein was not merely an individual crime; it represented an entire network of power, wealth, and influence that provided cover for crimes many people knew about but preferred to ignore or justify. Major wars often operate in much the same way: vast networks of interests in which everyone knows what is happening, yet no one pauses to ask the most basic moral question—who is the criminal, and who are the victims?

In Epstein’s case, the perpetrator was eventually identified and named, and the victims became known. In the Gulf war, the victims are known and the perpetrators are equally evident—yet no one dares to name them.

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Just as the Epstein scandal revealed how money and influence can create a safe haven for moral crime—destroying the lives of countless young women at the hands of powerful elites—the current war exposes how the international system itself can provide cover for the killing of civilians and the destruction of societies, often with tacit support from powerful global institutions.

The issue is not the name itself, but the logic behind it: a network of power, wealth, and influence that shields wrongdoing and prevents accountability.

Ironically, many of the actors who speak today in the name of morality are the same ones who fuel wars with weapons or exploit them to secure strategic gains. Here, the Epstein pattern reappears in another form: an entire system that knows what is happening yet continues to function as if nothing were wrong.

In official speeches and documents, leaders speak of international law, civilian protection, human rights, and regional stability. Yet on the ground, missiles fall on cities, making those words seem like empty rhetoric.

Iran, too, speaks of fraternity and neighborly relations, yet strikes civilian facilities in neighboring countries without regard for the bonds it invokes—bonds that should at least preserve a minimum of moral restraint even in the midst of war. Here again, the moral emptiness of this conflict becomes painfully clear.

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The current war is not merely a political or security event; it appears to be part of a larger game in which the interests of major and regional powers intersect. The broader this network becomes, the easier it is to justify what cannot truly be justified.

Here lies the precise parallel with the Epstein scandal: the wider the network of interests grows, the wider the circle of imposed silence becomes. One need only observe NATO’s silence regarding a war that has violated nearly every known rule of warfare. Without hesitation, it even rushed to deploy naval forces under the banner of “defense.”

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In the Epstein scandal, the victims were vulnerable individuals exploited in the shadows because they had few choices. In today’s Gulf war, the victims are entire populations paying the price for decisions in which they had no voice.

Cities now living under the anxiety of American-Israeli and Iranian missile attacks will see the cost of energy and food rise for the poorest populations. Poor countries facing waves of inflation and instability will bear the economic shock. Together, they represent the true human face of this war.

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For this reason, the current conflict appears as a global moral scandal. It exposes the limits of political conscience among the powers that currently dominate the world. Just as the Epstein case shook the public image of political elites and revealed deeply unethical practices, this war has shattered the image of the international system itself.

As observers have often noted, great wars leave behind not only ruined cities but also a heavy question: how much morality remains in global politics when power alone becomes the ultimate standard guiding international relations?

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Just as Epstein’s crimes were shielded by a web of politicians, influential figures, and institutions, the crimes of today’s war are cloaked in false claims that betray principles and undermine every value—much as Epstein and his network did.

Major wars often expose the illusions we live by: the supposed justice of the world, the authority of international law, and the credibility of human rights.

Epstein was a single individual protected by a network of influence that benefited from him. The current war, by contrast, is an entire network of influence protecting a far greater crime.

How striking the resemblance is between Epstein’s scandal yesterday and Netanyahu’s war today.