EDITORIAL — More collateral damage

The war that no one wanted has resulted in more collateral damage.

We are talking about this war against Iran and three Indian sailors killed after the U.S. attacked an oil tanker it accused of violating its blockade on Iranian ports.

Based on reports, the U.S. said it hit the MT Settebello with “precision munitions” after it reportedly ignored warning calls. However, the operator of the tanker, iOS Marine, said the ship had "remained stationary at its position for approximately 10 days prior to the incident and had made no movement whatsoever during that period."

Who’s telling the truth here isn’t yet clear, but what’s clear is that three more people who didn’t have to die did.

Aside from those non-military personnel killed in the exchange of missiles between the U.S. and Iran, there’s already too much collateral damage in this war.

Most numerous of these are the people who lost their jobs after things became unstable in the Middle East, including many Overseas Filipino Workers and their families. We don’t even have to mention public utility drivers who can no longer afford fuel, or those who’ve had to close small businesses because they can no longer afford the rising prices of everything, thanks to this war.

Now, these three sailors; three men who were just doing their jobs and likely didn’t pick a side in this war, but were killed nonetheless.

And now there may be more collateral damage to come; oil prices are seen to rise even more after Iran said it would totally close the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. struck them after it downed one of their helicopters patrolling the strait.

We are sure how this war began; U.S. President Donald Trump decided to act on an imagined threat that wasn’t really there --a nuclear Iran planning to strike the U.S.-- and taking an aggressive action that wasn’t authorized by U.S. Congress. But we aren’t sure how it will end, and this is because the U.S. isn’t clear anymore about what it wants to achieve in this war.

And the more this war stretches on, the more people all over the world will suffer.