Utterly destructive, self-defeating and spelling the end of the U.S. Empire

 

By Farhang Jahanpour

September 22, 2018

In view of the macro-historical perspective on the Middle East-West relations and the concrete cases referred to in this series – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria – it is clear that the demonization of Middle Eastern leaders as a prelude to invasion and their downfall has a long history.

Such rulers are often used to serve the economic and political interests of various Western countries, in the same way that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zayed are being used at the moment to make them purchase tens of billions of dollars’ worth of US, British and French weapons.

When they have outlived their usefulness, they will probably meet the same fate as that of Qadhafi or Saddam Hussein.

However, despite all those efforts, and according to President Trump at the cost of seven trillion dollars in the wars during the past few years in the Middle East, the United States has left behind millions of dead and injured, unimaginable human suffering, a series of broken societies, and the rise of the most vicious terrorism in the ruins of societies that were previously peaceful.

A policy of regime change in Iran, which seems to be the latest plot prepared by Neoconservatives, will be perhaps even more disastrous than all the previous attempts at regime change.

It will of course do enormous damage to Iran, perhaps kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people, but it will also create unprecedented chaos in the Middle East and give rise to a massive wave of refugees heading towards the West.

In the process, if things go wrong, it can also devastate both Israel and the Persian Gulf littoral states.

Maybe the time has come to reflect on this record of carnage and destruction, of the creation of one failed state after the other, and see what the United States and the world have achieved as the result of all that cost in life and treasure.

America is now overstretched as never before, and its economy is not capable of carrying that enormous burden.

This is why President Trump has called on other NATO members to increase their military spending and has called on Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf littoral states to pay for the cost of American wars in the Middle East.

However, a much better option is to turn away from militarism and warfare towards global coexistence and cooperation.

It is time to put an end to this vicious cycle of enmity between the West and the Middle East, between Arabs and Persians, between the Sunnis and the Shi’ites, between Israel and the rest of the Middle East.

The continuation of the current trend will result in more calamity, and may finally even mark the demise of the American Empire.

Some 2,500 year ago, the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu warned us about the dangers of wishing to dominate the world. The words (as translated by Witter Bynner and quoted in The Iranian Times, May 15, 2001) read as fresh today as they did then:

“Those who would take over the earth 

And shape it to their will
Never, I notice, succeed. 
The earth is like a vessel so sacred 

That at the mere approach of the profane

It is marred 

And when they reach out their fingers it is gone. 

For a time in the world some force themselves ahead 

And some are left behind
For a time in the world some make a great noise
And some are held silent

For a time in the world some are puffed fat
And some are kept hungry
For a time in the world some push aboard
And some are tipped out:
At no time in the world will a man who is sane
Over-reach himself
Over-spend himself
Over-rate himself.”

 

Recommended readings

TFF has published hundreds of articles and reports on the Middle East and the concrete cases analysed here by Dr. Jahanpour. Anyone engaged in education and wanting to avoid fake and omission should consult TFF present platform (the one you are on now); type in what you are interested in in the search box and see what comes up.

You may also search the top menus on the front page – TFF 1986-1996, TFF 1997-2011 and TFF homepage and blog 2012-2017. It’s one of the largest, independent and therefore credible reservoirs of knowledge created on a totally independent basis and produced by academic book learning as well as numerous fact-finding missions to the region.

Concerning this Summery, we suggest you also take a look at TFF director Jan Oberg’s Introduction to this ten-parts series here.

And we are grateful if you help share and spread this series to concerned friends and colleagues – and remember the hashtags.

 

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Photos

All from today’s Iran by Jan Oberg.
You can see many more here and purchase limited, signed editions here.
© Oberg PhotoGraphics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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