Like many US enemies, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader, often invoked God while chanting “Death to the US” and “Death to Israel”.
That led many Iranians to think God was standing with their leader and would protect him if, for example, his life was in danger. The logic goes something like this: If you trust in God, he should be able to protect you from anything, any enemy.
But on February 28 that illusion was completely shattered. The two allies launched airstrikes on Iran and killed Ayatollah Khamenei. He was 86. Many other Iranians were killed, and Iran (also called the Islamic Republic) retaliated by striking US military bases in Bahrain and Qatar.
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Ayatollah Khamenei was not alone in invoking God while berating the US. Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 attacks, did the same. Saddam was overthrown after the US invasion of 2003, which he signally failed to stop. He was captured, tried, convicted and executed in December 2006. His sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed by US forces.
In 2011, US attention turned to Mr bin Laden, who was holed up in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Relying on its intelligence, the US managed to track him down and killed him in a Navy Seals-led attack.
The US and Israel have some of the most powerful armies with the best weapons science and technology—not prayers—can build. Both have many enemies across much of the Arab world and beyond, but they do one thing extremely well: eliminating their enemies. Few countries can rival their blend of intelligence precision, ruthless resolve and military operational execution.
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This pattern is a clear illustration of what really works when countries go to war. It is not God. It is not prayers. God does not help countries win wars—even if they are the most pious, most prayerful.
Countries that are weak militarily nearly always bear the brunt of fighting. Iranian leaders have vowed retaliation, but until they get the same ability to gather intelligence and develop sophisticated weapons as the US and Israel, they are never going to emerge victorious. Never!
You can invoke God in every Friday sermon, in every prayer, in every rant against your enemy, but if your enemy’s intelligence and weapons are superior, the only thing you will get from God is silence.
That reality has been painfully visible in Gaza. It is now visible in Iran.
🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.