Perception Management

Today's wars were part of a 2009 American plan that's still in effect. Here's a strategy that could work against it. Let's shout it from the rooftops!

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Brian Berletic has been bringing attention to the report by the Brookings Institute from 2009 called Which Path to Persia: Options for a New American Strategy Toward Iran. It’s free to download and outlines the wars we’re seeing right now, and what we have seen since 2009: wars against Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, with Iran being the crown jewel.

I think we should all familiarize ourselves with it and bring as much attention to it as possible. Making sure this report becomes widely known can seriously throw sand into the gears of the war mongers.

Please give a listen to this important interview between Danny Haiphong and Brian Berletic who refer to this plan as they give us their take on what is happening between Israel and Iran.

If we’re all shouting from the rooftops, “Hey, Trump, are you following the Brookings strategy to say you’re considering backing Israel in its war with Iran before joining, according to plan?” can it change things? We need to stay one step ahead, and then amplify the next steps. This could take the wind out of their sails and maybe prevent them from taking these steps.

In case you’re curious, the next steps in the report after Iran will be to leave the Ukraine war and pivot towards Taiwan in order to militarily confront China.

There are, however, some wild cards that may not have been considered in 2009. Here are some that come to my mind:

Trump, and loss of respect for him domestically and globally

According to the script of the Brookings Institute report, Israel was supposed to invade Iran while the USA pretended to negotiate for peace in good faith. Trump, however, outed himself on his twitter account, Truth Social: “Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!” He went on to tell the world that he knew everything, so proved that he was negotiating in bad faith. Who will want to negotiate with him now that he’s demonstrated his dishonesty and duplicity?

Gaza genocide and decreased support for Israel and the USA

October 7th, 2023, unleashed a huge wave of destruction and propaganda from Israel and its backers towards Palestine. We were told we were anti-semitic if we objected to Israel’s genocide. That reveals how stupid the class of people who back Israel think the rest of us are. But I digress. As the world has witnessed this ongoing genocide in graphic detail on our screens, Israel and its American and other western backers have become extremely unpopular. The bringing human rights and democracy through war narrative has been shattered. Most of us don’t believe this anymore, and accordingly the words of the American and Israeli governments count for very little these days. Our hearts are breaking for Gaza, and we’re furious that no one is stopping this genocide.

BRICS and its political and economic impacts

What would you do if you lived in one of the countries that was on the western hit list, or had already been bombed back into the stone ages? If it were me, I’d look around for alternatives. BRICS is that alternative, and its growing rapidly, representing over half of the world’s population and close to 50% of global GDP. This at a time when the western world is in debt, and losing political, economic and reputational ground. If I were a non-western country I’d like to find a group that shared these guiding principles:

• The BRICS spirit of mutual respect and understanding, equality, solidarity, openness, inclusiveness and consensus,

• The BRICS practice of full consultation and promoting concrete cooperation based on consensus,

• The BRICS vision of strengthening multilateralism, strengthening and reforming the multilateral system and upholding international law,

• The BRICS objective of strengthening cooperation under the three pillars of political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation,

• A resolve to maintain the identity, coherence and consensus-based nature of BRICS by consolidation of cooperation and promoting institutional development, BRICS Membership Expansion: Guiding Principles, Standards, Criteria and Procedures

• Acceptance of the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations as an indispensable cornerstone of multilateralism and international law

• Support for increased representation of, and a more significant role for, emerging and developing countries in the international system, including geographical balance

• Support for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of developing countries in the Council’s memberships so that it can adequately respond to prevailing global challenges and support the legitimate aspirations of emerging and developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Brazil, India and South Africa, to play a greater role in international affairs, in particular in the United Nations, including its Security Council

• The commitment to the central role of the United Nations in an international system in which sovereign states cooperate to maintain peace and security, advance sustainable development, ensure the promotion and protection of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.

leaked top secret intel on Israel in Iran’s possession

According to this Al Jazeera article, Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib has said a “treasure trove” of sensitive Israeli documents related to its nuclear facilities, its relationship with the United States, Europe and other countries, as well as its defensive capabilities, will be unveiled soon. I can’t help but wonder if this announcement had something to do with the timing of Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran. It may be leverage that can be used to stop Israel’s military adventures.

America’s military defeat in Yemen

Although it’s being spun as an American victory, Yemen — the poorest country in the region — was able to repel an American invasion. Considering this, it’s hard to believe anyone expects that Israel and the USA will win a war with Iran.

unknown environmental consequences

This is one I think about a lot. Whenever I see footage of bombings in Israel, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine or anywhere else in the world, I can’t help but think about the environmental consequences of all this destruction. To quote this article in the Guardian from May, 2025:

The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, new research reveals.

“This updated research evidences the urgency to stop the escalating atrocities, and make sure that Israel and all states comply with international law, including the decisions from the ICC and the ICJ,” said Astrid Puentes, UN special rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. “Whether or not States agree on calling it a genocide, what we are facing is severely impacting all life in Gaza, and also threatening human rights in the region, and even globally, due to the aggravation of climate change.”

I can’t help but worry about the consequences of all this military destruction. We’re reaching and exceeding numerous environmental tipping points.

If we get a show stopper of an environmental disaster, although it might end wars, it could also be too late for all of us.

And then we have to consider the combination of the factors listed above. The western world is losing its power, but is clinging on to the idea of western hegemony.

Western elites are feeling desperate, and seeing war as a way of beating the rest of the world into submission. They’re flailing around wildly, and we don’t know how they will lash out. It’s an extremely dangerous time.

Can they adjust to a world order that follows international law and doesn’t exploit other countries? It doesn’t look like it. When generations have benefitted from colonialist adventures, the mindset seems to be hardwired. Let’s hope that cooler heads prevail.

The military win by Yemen when the USA invaded, demonstrated to those who were paying attention how weak the USA is militarily. If it can’t even defeat the poorest country in the region, how does it expect to win a war with Iran?

And through this crazy time, we have to do all we can to retain our humanity. Because what makes us human is what will save us. We have walk our values into the kind of world we want.

It’s up to all of us to change this trajectory of murder, destruction and environmental devastation that is erupting all around us. We have to transition to a kinder, greener way of living and doing business that is fair to everyone.

What will it take?

Maybe a good start would be to familiarize ourselves with this report by the Brookings Institute from 2009 called Which Path to Persia: Options for a New American Strategy Toward Iran. And then to shout from the rooftops, or at least on our social media, “Trump, are you following the Brookings strategy to say you’re considering backing Israel in its war with Iran before joining, according to plan?”

Why not? It’s worth a try.

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I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here's an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/browse/1

Here's a way to help others not in your bubble to boycott Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/stickies_2024_en

And here's where you can support Palestine by buying a keffiyeh: https://www.hirbawi.ps/