Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Taking Advice, as in Computer: it is Garbage in, Garbage out

 You don't have to be a nerd to know that when programming a computer, what you feed into it is what will come out at the output. The colloquial English to express this reality goes like this: Garbage in, garbage out.

 

Believe it or not, the same principle applies to human professions that require the input of advisers. Here too, how the professional performs depends on the quality of the advice he or she receives. Applying the same old colloquial to this case; it is again: Garbage in, garbage out.

 

Knowing this bit of truism can help us find the answer to the most pressing question of our time: How is it that the democracies, chief among them, the United States of America, have deteriorated to rank below many of their rival autocracies? The answer is that to appear like they are operating on sound democratic principles, the democracies listen to those who offer them advice whether or not it is solicited, whether or not it is wanted, whether or not it is useful.

 

Adam Lammon who is assistant managing editor of The National Interest, seems to have discovered the perfect case study to discuss and shed light on that phenomenon. He wrote about it in an article that came under the title: “How Biden Can Move Beyond Trump's Failed Iran Strategy,” and the subtitle: “US sanctions were intended to wring new concessions from Iran, but, for Tehran, the juice was never worth the squeeze.” The article was published on November 21, 2020 in The National Interest.

 

Appropriately enough, Adam Lammon started the discussion by asking the pertinent question: “How is it that President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have gotten Iran so wrong?” In response, he went on to tell in great detail, how it all began and how it proceeded.

 

Those who have a minimum of familiarity with the subject, will immediately recognize two patterns. One is the pattern that's exhibited by the army of clowns representing the so-called Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and are always available to advise the Executive as well as the Legislative branch of America. The other is the pattern you see implemented by Israel on the disarmed and helpless people of Palestine in their occupied homeland.

 

The founder and president of FDD is Clifford D. May who frequently writes on subjects pertaining to Iran, giving advice to anyone that reads him. He has been doing it for years while his army of five dozen or so comedians are incessantly pacing the corridors of the Congress, telling the legislators how to deal with Iran; with the Middle East and the World. Adam Lammon captured the essence of their message in the following paragraph, written here in condensed form:

 

“Insisting that Iran submit to the policies saved for the losers of wars when Iran is far from a defeated power, is no strategy at all. Security is a precondition for trade and economic growth, not the other way around. To believe that Iran would abandon its security for the lure of foreign investment and trade misunderstands that Iran values its sovereignty. It is that Iran's leaders define their economic crisis as a security problem. Therefore, in Iran, security and economics are intertwined; neither can be sacrificed for the other. Iran's leaders have warned that the West is using sanctions and trade as part of its soft war against Tehran”.

 

Now that he has managed to identify the real problem plaguing America's democracy, and by extension all other democracies, Adam Lammon found himself caught in a situation of having to suggest to the incoming Biden administration how the problem––which he called a Gordian Knot––can be untangled and resolved. He said that everything must not be tackled at once. Instead, a level of priority must be assigned to each item, and all items must be resolved one at a time.

 

However, for the effort to succeed, a philosophy to guide you every step of the way, must underlie your effort. A prudent philosophy would have you begin resolving the aspects of the trouble that pose the greater danger to the region and to America. You go on from there to the lesser troubling aspects of the problem. Lammon gave an example of how this can be done. Here is his description of it:

 

“Joe Biden should start by prioritizing Iran's nuclear program before discussing additional points of contention with Tehran. Rejoining the existing nuclear deal is the most effective means to regaining international support for US priorities … Iran's support for terrorism and its ballistic missile program can be successfully managed by US conventional forces and by working with allies. In contrast, an Iranian nuclear weapon poses an unparalleled challenge. Little else could so greatly upset America's Middle East national security portfolio”.

 

The message there is clear and easy to implement.

 

Finally, what the Adam Lammon article demonstrates, is that taking advice from the Jews is why America is in such a mess today.

 

Whereas the relationship in occupied Palestine is that of the conqueror and the conquered, it isn’t so between the United States and Iran. And yet, this is how the Jewish advisers have been telling America to behave when dealing with Iran.

 

Time after time, that demonic pattern proved to be bankrupt, but the Americans never saw it this way because they grew up indoctrinated with the belief that Jews are infallible.

 

For this, the Americans are now paying the ultimate price: The rapid deterioration of their superpower.