Feb 28 has pushed the region back into a familiar nightmare: force first, explanations later. A CENTCOM press release is not a substitute for legitimacy, especially when leadership targeting is involved. At the UN Security Council, António Guterres is already warning about illegality and escalation, and he is not speaking for one flag. The counterargument I hear is "Iran leaves no choice", missiles and nuclear fears, so preemption is self-defense. Yet self-defense in law and in conscience demands transparency and a political endgame, not just rubble and bravado. Every time the Strait of Hormuz trembles, nations like ours pay in inflation and lost development, while the great powers call it strategy. Non-alignment was never cowardice; it was a refusal to let someone else's vendetta set our horizon. If diplomacy failed, repair diplomacy, pressure all parties, and open channels, because a war of reprisals is a machine that feeds itself. History has seen empires mistake shock for solution; the bill arrives later, with interest.