How long will the destruction of Lebanon continue? This is madness.

‘While it is true that Iran has influence among some sectors in Lebanon, it is equally true that the US has even greater influence in even more sectors in Israel.’ Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

In 1917, Lt Gen Stanley Maude marched with the British army into Baghdad – then part of the Ottoman empire – with a proclamation. “Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators,” he said.

No one within earshot believed him.