New Delhi
Even as the new year 2020 began with people around the world hoping for a more peaceful decade and respite from violence and strife, murmurs and fears of an upcoming World War III have already started doing the rounds of social media following the killing of an Iranian soldier by the United States.
US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in Baghdad “in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad,” the Pentagon said Thursday.
The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year’s Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the US Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted Trump to order about 750 US soldiers deployed to the Middle East.
While tensions are rife with Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei vowing to exact “severe revenge” from the US, social media has spiralled with fears of a Third World War breaking out with ‘World War 3’ trending on Twitter.
Confused netizens who had barely recovered from New Year’s Day festivities reacted to the new developments with memes, photos, videos and artwork to express their fears of a World War III breaking out between the US and its allies and Iran and its allies. Many especially in the US joked about how to escape the draft incase of war.
World War I and II took place in the first half of the 20th century and involved most parts of the world and cause large scale destruction, death and displacement. An estimated 22 million people lost their lives in the WWI while WWII recorded deaths of an estimated 70-85 million people, i.e, nearly three percent of the population. Apart from war, wor-borne diseases and famines as well as the ensuing economic slowdown and loss of livelihoods led to severe civilian casualties.
WWII ended with the US military forces dropping the atom bomb on Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, instantly wiping out the cities. The damage from the bombs continues to surface in babies born with genetic mutations caused by the harmful radiation of the bombing. With the current weapons of mass destruction available to most governments today as well as superior nuclear technology, a World War III could potentially cause the end of the world as it is known.
