Daneshmand
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“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
We are living in a very beautiful world. Like the world in Alice's wonderland. Nothing is really what it seems. Everything has a deeper side that awaits for the daring Alice to expose and leave it for the thinkers to ponder on and understand its real significance. So let me be your Alice and guide you down the innards of this underworld; that is if you dare to stay with me through this journey, and be the jury!
Winston Churchill, the famous British statesman often used to boast between his puffs on a Cuban cigar and sips of Johnnie Walker, that he had created the country of Jordan with a stroke of his pen one evening after having a "particularly liquid lunch"; a thinly veiled reference to the involvement of alcohol while he was drawing the map of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
It is said, Winston Churchill had sneezed or had a hiccup during the drawing of the master map which was to set the border of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and this sneeze or hiccup jerked his hand, causing a peculiarly huge zig-zag dent in the border between these two British created countries, with the triangular concave dent pointing towards the Dead Sea (Historians are not sure whether it was a case of sneezing or a hiccup that determined the fate of Saudis and Jordanians). Today this four hundred kilometers or so long portion of the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia is named after Winston Churchill's hiccup on that afternoon and is called by the grand awe-inspiring and wonderland-proper name of Winston's Hiccup (I kid you not!):
A case of hiccup or sneeze? A great mystery in our history!
The above historical event, shows the extent to which the realpolitik played by world powers decides the fate of nations, near and far. Today, on one side of that border people call themselves "patriotic Jordanians" and on the other side, another group of people call themselves "patriotic Saudis". Without knowing how they came about to be Jordanians or Saudis to begin with. This is important to know in order to understand who are the real players and who are the resultants of the game those real players in the world of realpolitik play.
Therefore the need arises for a correct ontological view of actors in conflicts whether between Saudi Arabia and Iran or between factions in Syrian civil war and indeed everywhere and in every conflict. Unfortunately the correct ontology of events and actors is the first casualty of mass propaganda in order to mislead people and their sympathies. By calling spades, what they really are, we can then fully understand the mechanics of situation.
Challenging the takfiri king's narrative
At this moment the King, who had been for some time busily writing in his note-book, cackled out 'Silence!' and read out from his book, 'Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.'
Everybody looked at Alice.
'I'm not a mile high,' said Alice.
'You are,' said the King.
'Nearly two miles high,' added the Queen.
'Well, I shan't go, at any rate,' said Alice: 'besides, that's not a regular rule: you invented it just now.'
'It's the oldest rule in the book,' said the King.
'Then it ought to be Number One' said Alice.
The King turned pale, and shut his note-book hastily. 'Consider your verdict,' he said to the jury, in a low, trembling voice.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Nowadays often we read and hear about "Arab"-Iran tensions. But in reality, this is just a misnomer created to mislead people. Iran's problems are not with Arabs. In fact Iran has many friends and allies among Arabs from Lebanon to Oman and every where in between. Iran's problems are with those Arab states which are front shops of US hegemony in the region and among Muslims, chief among them the Saudi Arabian regime. We often hear bizarre explanations for this supposedly Arab-Iranian conflict, often laced with hateful logical fallacies and conspiracy theories such as "Iran's sectarianism", "Iran's expansionism", the "Majoosi nature of Iranians", "secret alliance between Iran and Israel", "secret alliance between Iran and United States", "Shias are infidels" and so on and so forth. In these Takfiri apologist propaganda, Saudi Arabia is portrayed to be just defending itself against the "evil" Iran. Naturally under such illogical explanations, the only possible solution as pushed by the Takfiri apologists, would be for Iran to abandon its "evil" ways and submit to "Saudi" narrative in order for "peace" to be established under a Takfiri security order, beneath the watchful eyes of United States.
Hence if we are to get anywhere in our logical study of this phenomenon, we have to get rid of these ridiculous notions such as the nature of conflict being a Shia-Sunni one or Arab-Ajam one, since these notions are often pushed by the Takfiri apologists to paint a false picture of the conflict in order to hide Saudi's true and only role in this conflict, the role of a sock-puppet on behalf of United States. These ancient theological and ethnic differences, perhaps at their most may be recognized as a symptom, or may have even been used as aggravating tools in this conflict but they are not the core cause of this conflict. Not even by distant association. To claim as such, would be like saying, France sanctioned Russia last year because of the Napoleon invasion of Russia, disregarding the current geopolitical realities and reasons for example the situation in Ukraine. It would be like saying Germany went to war against UK in world war one, because the Church of England had separated itself from continental Christianity.
Instead drink and draw new countries!
Such emotional reasoning as often propagated by the media and then parroted by the ignorant public is better left to those who want to continue their lives as ignorants. Those who consider themselves rational beings interested in genuine scholarship and study, can and should move beyond such emotive conditioning brought about by popular media. As I will show below, the core of Iran-Saudi tensions is very much current and contemporary in nature and has nothing to do with Shia-Sunni or Arab-Ajam issues. Those who bring such issues up, are often those who want to protect Saudi Arabia by deceiving the public and muddying the waters so that the people would not see the real and the very current and valid reasons for the conflict, and as you will see below these valid reasons are not very much in favor of Saudis, therefore these vicious attempts by Saudi apologists to obscure the truth and their pushing forward such silly reasons such as Shia-Sunni and Arab-Ajam history.
By placing and naming correctly and logically, everything shall fall to its place and there would be no need to keep swallowing the Shia-Sunni and Arab-Ajam propaganda diarrhea, which is produced to appeal to ignorance and emotions of people and sketch an irrational picture of Iran and its goals, therefore de-humanizing Iran and Iranians and predestine Iran in public opinion to be perpetually in err, hence putting all the blames on Iran for the conflict and the absence of peace. In the battle between ignorance and knowledge, much similar to darkness and light, it only takes for the latter to enter, and the former to become a ridicule.
Dreams, oh fleeting dreams, take us along and make us, thus real!
“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: ...So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Some decades ago, a major chunk of Iranians started to have a new dream of ancient orgins. A dream about their country. In this dream, Iranians did not want to think of their country just as a place where they lived in or made their bread and butter. They dreamed of Iran to be more than that. They wanted Iran to become a role model. They dreamed being a purposeful nation championing their very own dreams, instead of someone else's. They dreamed dreams of Iranzamin. A role model of independence. A role model, living independent of United States or USSR or anyone else's dictations. Iranians thought to themselves, what is the use of a nation without purposeful dreams of greatness. This dream had its roots in Iran's civilizational identity manifested in constitutional revolution and later events, but all this is beyond the scope of this thread.
The important thing to take note of here, is existence of wide spread and deep grass root support for this dream, so much so that the vast majority of Iranian people were ready to give huge sacrifices for it. Then came their chance to experience this independent political life, without being an extension of US foreign policy. But as all countries who leave the American orbit know very well, the US just does not let any separation happen amicably. US wanted its pound of flesh and boy, they cut a ton of it, off the Iranian skeleton. The year was 1953 and US disregarded the wishes of Iranian public, invading Iran through a coup conducted from its embassy in Tehran in what became known as Operation Ajax. The dream of Iranians went dark. No one came to Iran's rescue. No sanctions were imposed on US. And the US thought it had won its battle against Iranian dreams.
Long Live all those new Sneezy Kings!
But Iranians are no weak-minded cowards and actually consider themselves to be a civilizational force of ancient origin much similar to how Japanese or Chinese see themselves, having survived through thousands of years of history, while all around Iran, empires and countries were born and went extinct. Iranians, despite losing their democracy to American greed, had one more trick up their sleeve, which was yet to come. This trick unlike the previous attempt in which Iran had used only nationalism and democracy to gain its political independence, was based on using a hybrid form of ideology combining elements of national identity and Islam with a participatory political structure.
The core of Iranian Revolution of 1979, was neither a nationalist ideology, nor a purely theological affair or even a complete democracy. It had some elements from all of them, which allowed a much wider and broader segment of population to trust it, as opposed to the support that only a nationalist monarchy, liberal democracy or a socialist dictatorship or any other kind of political structure would have in Iran. Such a robust political system then allowed Iran to weather through the American attempts to shatter Iranian dream of independence since those grass root dreams were now being represented by a political system which had the broadest support among the population having elements to please most of the people.
Curious case of being a top dog
“If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.”
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
But all this does not mean, US gave up to coerce Iran into submission. You see US had and has a huge problem. The problem US faces from the perspective of a super power, is how to continue remaining a super power perpetually. The competition for the top dog post of super power is always fierce with challenges both from allies and enemies. Therefore US must keep its edge over its allies and enemies alike. Cold war with USSR was one example of such a competition. But little known publicly is the US struggle to keep its title of 'leader of the West' among its allies which allows it to be the top dog super power. US certainly would not like to see Japan or EU to be the 'leader of the West'. For this US needs to have immense influence over its allies, particularly in Europe. This strategic need to have such an influence came about when British Empire was dismantled after the World War II, and the keys to the Empire were given to US.
With the dawn of Pax Americana, US took upon itself to run the world not the way British ran their colonies but through an international legal system, which was designed from the outset to be preferentially favorable to US. Basically US wrote the international laws in which all nations were equal but one state was more equal than others, and that state was United States. It is a very beautiful system. It keeps the order and gives plenty of freedoms to nations around the world allowing them to be countries instead of official colonies. Except one freedom. The freedom of having an independent security and foreign policy order, with different objectives than from that of United States.
This is the only cardinal sin, the only thing the idol America, wants you to stay away from. Provided you submit to the security order and foreign policy goals US sets no matter how wrong or damaging to your nation, you can be a Takfiri monarchical dictatorship from whose land comes out AQ and ISIS and yet, you will be forgiven and even rewarded. You see, idol America is a very forgiving nation. It can forgive all your sins, except your disobedience in matters of "empire's hegemony and its foreign policy strategy". Iran broke the idol and committed the ultimate sin, without repenting or even an intention to repent.
Hiccup honey, how many countries did you make today?!
Additionally, influence of US goes deeper than merely its preferential status within international laws, and it includes hegemony over energy markets as well as its massive military might. These form the three pillars on which Pax Americana rests, like a three legged stool. Almost two third of the world's economically recoverable hydrocarbon energy reserves happens to be in Muslim lands, with the rest also mostly located in countries not very much aligned with US, for example in Russia. Most of this energy resource happens to be in middle east. So US after World War Two created a strategic energy policy which depended on US militarization of Middle East, and strove for US hegemony over Muslim lands.
This hegemony allowed US to take the customers of oil world wide, hostage. Every one, enemy or foe, from Japan to Germany and from China to South Africa depends on US for their energy security. Without energy the world will collapse and US has its hand on the tap, allowing US to control world's oil market, fixing oil prices to score strategic benefits for itself, all the while making its own allies security dependent on US for their energy needs. This is counter to popular perception that US is consuming the middle east oil, which is not true to most extent. The purpose of US hegemony in middle east is to control America's allies and enemies by US having a say in their access to energy markets. A very clever plan. Until, Iranians started to dream for themselves.
Taking on, the top dog
“Well, in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you ran very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.”
“A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Iran correctly calculated that US as a hegemon and as a defending champion for the top dog post of super power, depends more than anything on order. A hegemon can not be a hegemon in a place without any order. In thermodynamics, there is this beautiful concept of entropy which is the measure of disorder. Iran's refusal to play ball with US, has been increasing the entropy within the most critical area whose function is to guarantee US energy policy, itself the most critical pillar of Pax Americana.
It has been Iran's strategic goal in the past three decades to dismantle this pillar and destabilize the balance of the stool on which American Empire sits and rules the world. US has been responding by increasingly re-balancing itself on the remaining other two pillars of its hegemony stool, namely its military might and abusing its preferential status in international legal structure, coercing other countries to join its fight against Iran, to the point that these countries had to damage themselves by going against their own national interests, in order to carry out the American orders.
Here, the ultimate beauty is the way by which Iran brings about this increase in entropy, bearing down on American might. Iran calculated early on, that it is not only Iran which is frustrated and dismayed by America's policies. The whole region and in a way the whole world is frustrated with America's policies. With one small peculiar detail, that the governments of these frustrated populations are actually pro-American stooges. It is almost always the people who are against the US and its policies, feeling frustrated and unable to voice their frustration. This frustration phenomenon is very much pronounced in Iran's neighborhood and in Muslim lands.
But almost all these governments "representing" these frustrated "oppressed" people, are functioning inside the security paradigm of the United States, like slimy tentacle appendages of American foreign policy, furthering American hegemony on their populace, region and globe. These governments whether of monarchical dictatorship variety or the so called democracies with corrupt and ineffective leaders, are actually no more than puppets whose function is to soften the image of the colonial empire US is running, allowing US to take a hands off approach and maintain control without actually being seen like a colony master.
Iran calculated that using the "Lead by Example" role model and with small but steady help to the frustrated population in several locations at once, can bring about a huge security challenge for United States, draining the resources of the empire. After all even the resources of the empire are not limitless. They are finite. The trick to be successful in this game of chickens was for Iran to stay deep inside the OODA loop of United States and its puppets, cycling at greater rates than it was possible for them to cycle in order to outmaneuver Iran. And all this happened because the Iranian public fully supported the government to the brink something not possible for United States or its puppets, match up to.
Fear of Iranzamin
"It is better to be feared than loved." Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
This has been going on now for decades, with all indications testifying that US strategic influence is eroding and Iran's influence actually rising to the point that Iran has started to put forward a counter-narrative for the region opposing that of US. Iran calls this counter-narrative, "Axis of Resistance". Its function is to continue eating away at US energy policy by cutting up and loosening the stitches of the American puppets in the region. Not surprisingly, the puppets are terrified, as is their master. But with one critical difference. Just like the concept of frame of reference in General Relativity, here the puppets and their master are looking at a single phenomenon but are actually seeing different things. The puppet master is seeing a security challenge with regard to just one of its hegemonic pillars, the hydrocarbon energy pillar, while the puppets are seeing their very existence in danger.
The puppet master has the option to leave the energy pillar collapse and erect at great costs another pillar somewhere else based on something else. Or at even greater costs, it has the option of total war with Iran, with the goal of complete occupation of Iran for years to come in order to completely destroy Iranian dreams. But the puppets are increasingly finding themselves at a very odd and almost unbelieveable territory. They are finding out that the puppet master has no power and guts to destroy Iran because of the costs involved, and instead it expects the puppets to somehow destroy the Iranian dream. Take the case of King Abdullah who had lobbied US to attack Iran, going as far in his pleas to sob his heart out by telling United States government, that the head of snake has to be chopped, referring to Iran. Obviously such puppets who depended on US for their existence are now scared to death.
Sure, sir. No doubt about this one!
But the horror of puppets which keep them awake at night is something entirely of different nature. There is one more different master frame which is different than the puppet frame in the physics of this puppet world. US has one more option, which is the least costly than the above options, and that is the rapprochement with Iran. In this option, US can recognize Iran as a master of its own destiny, a civilizational force with special privileges to go about in international system, respected and internationally allowed its own sphere of strategic influence. Under such rational and fair terms of rapprochement, Iran would be happy to call a cease fire and accept a truce.
US can of course can keep its puppets, rein them in and milk them for all they are worth. They will become the least of Iran's concern. Such an Iran would then, of course be a rising Iran, immensely increasing its power and status which should be fine by US and even helped by US. And there is already a precedent of such a deal which US made some decades ago with another ancient civilization who had challenged US hegemony in its own region, the People's Republic of China . When US influence was in free fall in East Asia and everything was a mess there, US salvaged its goals and its strategic policy objectives through a rapprochement with China. It accepted China, invested heavily in China and started respecting China.
There is no reason to think US can not or should not do the same with respect to Iran. There were days when pro Taiwan mafia used to rule lobby circles in Washington. Nixon changed that. Both China and US benefited greatly from their rapprochement. Similarly US can salvage its strategic standing in middle east by rapprochement with Iran. Iran can not be a puppet since Iranians are a proud bunch, but Iran can be a constructive equal partner in a partnership built around shared prosperity. The Takfiri lobby and other lobbies can be marginalized in a similar way the Pro-Taiwan lobby was marginalized in American politics.
Hope for a future different from yesterday and a peace different from yesteryear
"It is no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
As for Iran talking to puppets or any such suggestion, it won't work. Since it is ridiculous trying to have a serious conversation with a puppet. After all, you have to realize, what you are actually talking to, is just a doll with a hand inside it. And why talk seriously to a hand inside a velvet doll with a tiny checkered head-towel while the real conversation has to take place between the owner of the hand and Iran. If the puppeteer thinks that Iran will fold in and start talking to his puppets, the puppeteer is gravely mistaken. Iran is not scared of his puppets nor will have any serious discussion with his hand veiled under a sockpuppet.
US should grow up and understand that these childish games are going nowhere. Bringing up an assembly of puppets of different colors, shapes and sizes in opposition to Iran's rising power, won't impress Iran. What will impress Iran, is American recognition for a rational and logical approach necessary to solve the problems of Middle East. What will break the ice is total and absolute recognition by United States of Iran's strategic and security rights in the world. This is the only solution to the problem of Middle East. US has to swallow its pride and send its president to meet with Iran's leaders, exactly how President Nixon went to see Chairman Mao when US did not even have an embassy in Beijing and China had been barred to even sit in its United Nations seat by American government.
US is seriously mistaken if it is expecting Iran to get scared of a coalition pseudo-commanded by a sockpuppet that came to existence out of Winston Churchill's belching over a bottle of Scotch Whiskey, one dark Sunday afternoon not so long ago.
The Israeli province of Jordan has not been tagged in the map, for obvious reason!
US holds the key to the peace in middle east. Continuing to play puppet games, will only result in more destruction and erosion of American influence in Middle East and world over as entropy will keep increasing in absence of a rapprochement with Iran. It is now time for US to do the right thing. Time has come to end this puppet show and get down to business. Like grown ups. Because Iranians are determined to make their dreams come true, not only for their sake but also for the sake of Iran's allies. It is now long overdue for US to change its strategic policy with regard to Muslim world and stop supporting, facilitating and empowering Takfiris. The majority of Muslims are not Takfiris and US support for this minority has only brought huge destruction for Muslim world and beyond, including suffering inside the US itself.
Using Takfiri puppets as proxies of US foreign policy, has backfired. Now it is the time to abandon this puppet show and instead of stuffing ever bigger and hairier hands into the sockpuppets in order to puff 'em up, make a rapprochement with Iran. Already these sockpuppets are showing the signs of excessive wear and tear and their stitches are coming apart showing the hairy skin of the puppeteer's hand underneath. Putting even more strain on these puppets might break them permanently. Now it is the opportune time for US to come to terms with Iran as Iran will not wait for United States forever. Not at all. Others like the same China which US, had once tried to contain, are queuing up to build a new world, much inline with Iran's dreams.
Let's converse about the bigger picture, here and everywhere!
“And what is the use of a ̶b̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶ thread," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversation?” Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶E̶n̶d̶.̶ ̶ The Beginning. A new beginning!
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