I write this article in response to Benny Avni's column that
came under the title: “Why Iran 's
thugs just took more hostages,” published on January 21, 2016 in the New York
Post. This discussion is actually a continuation of what I started to parse in
the previous article; that which came under the title: “Krauthammer gets the Swap Story all wrong”.
The point I made then was that the Republican President,
Ronald Reagan began his tenure as President of the United
States by conducting the biggest swap ever made by America with
another country. The peculiarity of that swap, however, is that it did not
involve the usual prisoner for prisoner exchange, but the release of American
prisoners held in Iran in
exchange for lethal American weapons stored in Israel .
The reason why it is necessary to recall this episode is
that the folklore which arose about Reagan's herculean qualities in standing up
to the vile enemies of America and winning by staring at them and talking tough
– is delusional poppycock peddled by those who have no idea what they are
talking about. The truth must be told to avoid feeding a cottage industry that
is out there fabricating urban legends based on a legacy of Ronald Reagan he
would be astonished to hear were he alive today.
A consequence of those legends is what we see in the current
article by Benny Avni. His point is that Iran 's thugs “just took more
hostages” because the current President, Barack Obama did not stare at the
Iranians and did not talk tough to them as Reagan would have done. Believe it
or not, that is only a sample of the delusional poppycock which is endlessly
fabricated and constantly peddled by the likes of the New York Post and the Fox
News contributors who try to outdo each other at the business of inflating the
Reagan legacy.
Avni has “connected the dots” and has speculated on a
narrative that is based on what he calls “credible reports” to the effect that
three American citizens were kidnapped and transferred by their captors to a
city in Iraq
that is ruled by an Iranian-backed Shiite militia. And this, in his view, makes
it so that the culprit in all of this is none other than the American
President, Barack Obama.
That is the case, he says, because Obama exchanged prisoners
for prisoners with Iran instead of doing what Reagan would have done, which
would be to stare at the Iranians, talk tough to them, and then ask the
Israelis to ship lethal weapons to Iran. As can be seen, the delusional
poppycock has now transformed into sheer right-wing madness.
But what did those credible reports say that convinced Benny
Avni of the narrative he is peddling? He says the reports constitute “a dark
story” told by the Iraqis. Here it is: “Two men and one woman were partying in
an area described as a 'red light district.' The source speculated that the
three had American passports … This turned them into a commodity and they
became valuable.” That's why they were kidnapped, says Avni – well, make that,
apparently so because he cannot be one hundred percent sure.
But was there a demand for an exchange of prisoners? No.
Well then, was there a demand for a monetary ransom? No. So then, what? Then,
the urban legend stands because urban legends do not need legs to stand on;
they simply need to be told once and they live at perpetuity. Get it?
That point made with clarity, and because “US citizens are now held in an Iraqi area where Iran wields
much influence,” Benny Avni and those like him feel free to perpetuate the myth
that Barack Obama and John Kerry are the guilty parties in this whole affair.
It is as simple as that.
What makes matters even worse in the eyes of the Avnis of
this world is that the unfolding of the recent history is yielding consequences
even more ominous than previously thought. Are you ready for them? Here they
are:
“Now, in the eyes of American officials, Iran can do no
wrong ... even if there was no direct order from Tehran, the kidnappers must
have believed that their Iranian patrons would be pleased … whatever the
reality, the new situation won't be resolved without Tehran's involvement …
after all, the Islamic Republic has yet to shed old habits. The Guards or some
proxy can always find new hostages to start the whole process anew.”