At the beginning of the year, shortly after Trump invaded Venezuela, I had written: "As Thick as Thieves." I re-read it before writing this piece. I had then warned that the Venezuelan "success" would embolden Trump to flex his muscles elsewhere, too.

True to his rampaging and disruptive style, he has done it again, this time by attacking Iran and "eliminating" its Supreme Commander Khamenei. I have no love lost for Khamenei, nor for his brutal suppression of democracy and women's rights in Iran. But that in no way justifies America and Israel's naked aggression against another sovereign country. Trump and the USA have obviously not learnt the lessons of history, which repeats itself for those who don't learn from it.

After World War II, the USA lost every war or conflict that it entered into – Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan in particular. In Vietnam, it killed innocent children with burning napalm bombs. It hanged Saddam Hussein, the most secular Muslim leader in the Middle East. From Afghanistan, it withdrew with more than a bloodied nose. Yet, no lessons learned. Trump is doomed to have history repeat itself.

His unjustified aggression reminded me of the words of the Prophet Hosea, "Those who sow the wind reap a whirlwind" (Hos 8:7). He lived in the 8th century BC when Israel was under siege by Assyria. I will now quote from the Introduction to the Book of Hosea in the New Jerusalem Bible, which I use for both study and reflection.

"It was a sombre period for Israel with the victorious advance of Assyria, 734-32, internal rebellions, four kings being assassinated in fifteen years and increasing religious and moral corruption." It goes on to say, "The underlying theme of all his preaching is divine love misunderstood by the people on whom it was lavished ... Israel played false to her loving God. Hosea indicts the ruling classes sternly. The kings, chosen in defiance of God's will, have toyed with human policies, degrading God's chosen people ... Hosea attacks injustice and violence."

If this is not history repeating itself, what is? Trump and Netanyahu may be democratically elected leaders. That does not legitimise their abuse of authority. They cannot ride roughshod over others and try to justify their murderous acts.

Recall how they went into Iraq claiming that it had developed weapons of mass destruction. Instead, they found a factory producing baby food! But by then, the damage had been irreversibly done. Here, too, the justification for invading Iran is that it had a nuclear weapons programme. Ironically, both the USA and Israel are nuclear powers, so who are they to preach to others? Remember also how, post Pokhran, the USA treated India like a pariah, because of our nuclear programme.

The ultimate irony is that to date, the only country to have used nuclear weapons is the USA itself, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. I have read the testimonies of Fr Pedro Arrupe, SJ, the former Superior General of the Jesuits and Major General Eustace D'Souza, who were then eyewitnesses to that nuclear holocaust. How dare the USA then behave as a moral policeman for the rest of the world?

Hosea condemned not just political power but also the misuse of religion. This is also a matter of grave concern. Despite his own multiple sexual and financial transgressions, Trump tries to position himself as some kind of modern-day Christian crusader. Nothing could be further from the truth. His arrogant attitude towards migrants, ethnic minorities and even climate change is at complete variance with Christian social and moral teachings.

Trump believes that might is right, more so if you are a right-wing politician who considers all opposition as "left lunatics."

As a Christian, another matter of grave concern for me is the blatant misinterpretation of the Holy Bible by some Christians, including in India, to justify Israel's actions. They seem to forget that the so-called "chosen people" of the Old Testament no longer exist. They have been subsumed by the "chosen people" of the New Testament.

The Old Testament prophecies have been "fulfilled." That is to say that they have attained their goal and are now redundant or infructuous. This is why, when Jesus was challenged by religious fanatics and zealots about his non-adherence to the Laws of Moses, he had to affirm, "Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete (fulfil) them" (Mat 5:17).

Now, the "chosen people" are not those identified by birth (as is also prevalent in the caste system). Rather, they are those who have experienced rebirth in Jesus. I must here clarify that Vatican II's "Dogmatic Constitution of the Church" does not limit such chosen people to those who have received baptism. It goes beyond that to recognise all people of goodwill.

As an Indian, I am also concerned about India surrendering its time-honoured equidistant policy, dating back to Nehru's Non-Aligned Movement. It is ominous that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi was warmly welcomed by Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on the very eve of the attack on Iran. He has since condemned the attacks on Saudi Arabia but not on Iran. Is this just because Israel knows the inside story of the Pegasus spyware that it had supplied to the Indian Government? There seems to be much more than what meets the eye.

What is even more disheartening is the role of the UN. It has become a mute spectator to what was earlier happening in Ukraine and Gaza, and now more recently in Venezuela, Iran and the entire Middle East. This is not just another Gulf War that explodes on TV screens across the globe. It has the potential to engulf the entire world, leading to World War III.

All sane leaders of nations, communities and religions need to come together to prevent a world catastrophe. As citizens, in our own way too, it is our solemn duty to prevent communal or sectarian flare-ups wherever we are and to actively work for peace.