For half a century, the elites in the politico-journalistic circles of America thought they were operating in a paradigm –– concerning the Middle East and other foreign policy issues –– they thought was as real as the nose that’s adorning their faces. But how real was that paradigm?
The trouble was that
myopia––at times even blindness––regarding the unfolding events of the day,
prevented those elites from seeing the consequences of such events even when
the latter begged for attention as they flashed their existence an inch past
the end of the elites' noses.
So, the question to ask is
this: How did the fantasy develop into a fake paradigm that's capable of
mimicking reality despite the warning signs that were constantly flashing, and
the voices that were muted but were there and were real, however faint they may
have been?
To answer that question, we
can study an article that came under the title: “How Biden Can Overcome Iran's
Maximum Pressure,” and the subtitle: “Iran must see that America's pursuit of
nuclear negotiations will not inhibit what we do to counter their threatening,
unacceptable actions in the region.” The article was written by Dennis Ross and
published on March 12, 2021 in The National Interest.
The Ross article shows that
when you want to move a vision from the realm of the fantasy to that of the
paradigm, however fake the paradigm may be, the vehicle to use, is what you may
call, “the virtual narrative of a thousand distortions.” If the narrative does
not qualify to be a machine that moves a load from A to B, it qualifies to be a
stepping stone that bridges the gap between the fantasy that was to the
paradigm that’s meant to be. Think of the cycle as going from the fantasy to
the narrative of distortions to the fake paradigm.
The following is what Dennis
Ross did to transform the fantasy into a narrative of distortions:
“Consider the recent pattern
of Iran's behavior. While the Iranians did agree to discuss with IAEA what the
agency says are unsatisfactory explanations for traces of uranium found at
three sites, they declined the European invitation to resume diplomacy on their
nuclear program unless the US reverses the Trump sanctions first. But Iran's
provocative actions are not limited to its nuclear program; they have clearly
become far more threatening in the region at the same time”.
What does that passage reveal?
It reveals that in the tug-of-war preceding the negotiations that will be held
sooner or later between the P5+1 and Iran, America wants to stay as close as
possible to the Trump demand that Iran come beg for mercy before the sanctions
are lifted. On the other hand, Iran wants America to know that a deal is a
deal, saying in effect: We had a deal and you reneged on it. You damaged our
economy to the tune of a trillion dollars. If you're not going to compensate us
for the crime you committed, the least you can do is end the sanctions. If you
do that, we'll consider negotiating with you again.
While this goes beyond the
reasonable and into the generous on the part of the Iranians, Dennis Ross has
adopted a narrative that badly distorts this reality. In fact, Ross made the
whole thing sound like America has acted like a saint whereas the Iranians
acted like demons. How did Ross do it? He used the adverb, “but” and the two
adjectives, “provocative” and “threatening.” If you remove the sentence that
contains these three terms, you’ll see that Dennis Ross has narrated a fake
reality; one that’s the reverse of the truth.
To go beyond that and turn the
distorted narrative into a fake paradigm that will sound real until debunked by
history, Dennis Ross wrote that, “Iran's leaders must see they cannot gain from
their posture,” therefore, “the Biden administration will need to employ a mix
of diplomatic and coercive options.” And this can be accomplished, he says, by
implementing four steps that boil down to the following:
Iran's leaders must be made to
see that in the absence of diplomacy, force may ultimately have to be used. The
Biden administration should make it clear to the Russians and the Chinese, it
is in their interest to make the Iranians understand that message because
things can get really ugly, which is something they are known to abhor, says
Dennis Ross. The Biden team should also shine a spotlight on the Shia militias
who are endangering Iraqi civilians with their rocket strikes, he goes on to
say. And finally, the Biden administration should take a page from the Israeli
playbook, effectively letting Israeli generals take command of America's
military, and lead it into a war against yet another Muslim country, Dennis
Ross has strongly advised.
What this will do, says Ross,
is solidify the narrative, turning it into a paradigm, however false the paradigm
may turn out to be. Moreover, to convince the Iranians to dial back their
pressure campaign and resume negotiations, and to demonstrate our readiness to
compete, the Biden administration should adhere to seven steps that boil down
to the following, he goes on to say:
Increase our support and that
of the Saudis and Emirates for the Iraqi military. Expose what the Iranians
continue to spend in Syria. Back Israeli military strikes on Syria. Develop a
defense network between Israel and the Gulf states. Help the Saudis defend
against cruise missile and drones. Formulate options with the Arab states and
Israel to counter Iran's Shia proxies. Promote normalization between the Arab
states and Israel.
That’s how the Jews turn their
fantasies into narratives of distortions, and the narratives into fake
paradigms that last till they are debunked. When this happens, their
rank-and-file pay a heavy price … like they are about to do, having come near
the end of the leaders’ cycle of deception.
But all that misery can be
avoided if the Jewish leaders end their tyrannical habit of canceling those who
wish to save them from the darkest of their impulses.
If the leaders do that, and the media outlets air the grievances kept bottled up in the chests of the population, the safety valve would open up and help reduce the pressure.