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There is so much nonsense, disinformation, propaganda and downright AI generated lies out there at the moment.
Take, for example, Dubai, apparently, it is full of tax dodging so-called influencers who try to earn a living by posting pictures of themselves lounging by swimming pools. The first little bang and they all run screaming to the airport. Ha, it’s shut! Now they all start pleading with their respective governments to organise evacuation flights to get them out. That will be flights paid for by the taxpayers of which they are not.
Over the last week I have seen so many articles and posts on the internet that are misleading, blatantly wrong and designed to scare.
Widely circulated on social media was an overhead picture purportedly of the US base in Juffair showing damage inflicted by Iranian missiles. My first thought was who took that? Then, a few days later, it transpires it was an AI generated image from Iran, but so many gullible people posted it as true.
Then there are all the scare stories: ‘I am hiding in my bathroom with my cat and dog and I am terrified’ – not because they were anywhere near a missile or falling debris but because they heard a siren and got a scary message on their phone.
If you are that scared and terrified of your own shadow, then you are in the wrong place, you should be back at home hiding behind your mum’s skirt and, as per my definition a couple of weeks ago, you are not an expat.
When this round of unpleasantness started, I called a mate and invited him round to watch the patriots screaming into the sky and taking out incoming missiles. I spotted a Shaheed drone passing about 100 feet over my head on its way to bomb an empty base in Juffair.
We discussed the events and, when his family called, my friend told them not to worry as this was his ‘fifth rodeo’ - Iran-Iraq war, Kuwait invasion, Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2, and now this.
We have all been here before many times. And still we continue to live and work in this glorious part of the world.
This brings me to my point, war can be dreadful. People are killed, property and infrastructure is damaged but the effect it has on the majority of the populace is mainly financial and not structural.
A few years ago, I sold industrial batteries to many countries in the region. I would regularly be on the phone to customers in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Yemen when there were local wars on and they would tell me that, yes, there was a war on but it was in a different area and in their area they went to work, the kids went to school, in the evening they went out to eat in restaurants, there was no problem getting fuel for their cars, but sometimes they had power cuts which was why they were buying my batteries in the first place.
So, you see when it is all getting a bit tasty around you and the ordinance is flying over your head don’t worry, there is nothing you can do.
You only think it is safer back home but there is a lorry coming down the hill and its brakes have failed... or you could stay here fat, dumb and happy and if the bomb drops then you will probably not know anything about it.
Jackie@JBeedie.com
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