Some years back I had an opportunity to attend a session on leadership and human behavior that was part of a conference in Colorado. The session covered techniques on how to persuade a group or a person to accept a concept or a way of doing something important.
A portion of the gathering began with an exercise where different participants took turns trying to convince the rest of the group to agree on an idea. The methods used varied, but one stood out most that instead of changing their approach, some of the participants repeated their presentation but in louder and louder voices to the point of looking funny.
When the exercise was completed, the group leader mentioned that this approach was very common but not the thing to do. He also said that it fit the definition of insanity.
After the meeting I looked up the definition of insanity that is described as a “deranged state of mind or severe mental illness characterized by unsoundness or extreme foolishness.” I also found a popular definition attributed to Albert Einstein that states that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
That is exactly what President Trump is doing in Iran. In the last few days, he has sent the military to attack and bomb Iran at least 13 consecutive times.
In a recent news conference, the President was asked about the endgame there and he stated that there are two. One is military and the other are negotiations.
We know that Iran always negotiates to a position of strength. Last time there was an agreement, in the form of a memorandum of understanding, Iran was in line to get 325 billion dollars or more and keep the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes that their negotiators argued they were already doing.
Fortunately, the terrible deal President Trump was set to make did not come about because Iran is playing the long game on the matter. Remember Iran’s revenge against President Carter and the 52 American hostages held for 444 days and their release on President Reagan’s inauguration?
Negotiations, especially with Iran, are hard work and take a long time. We already have a blueprint for that process in President Obama’s agreement with Iran that took out 97 percent of the enriched uranium and released some of Iranian frozen funds.
Obama’s effort took two years to make and involved six other countries plus the European Union. That agreement needed to be replaced beginning this year.
Evidently, President Trump decided not to negotiate further and took a short cut just like he did with Venezuela. Following Israel’s lead, he ordered a war on Iran and created a mess with no positive exit.
The President used our armed forces to destroy Iran’s navy, air force and radar sites, among others, to assure air superiority in Iranian skies and the ability to bomb at will. It is clear however, that given the circumstances of failed negotiations, resorting to intense military attacks is a desperate attempt to force a solution that is not there.
So, here we are “doing the same thing over and over again” and seeking a different result. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on Capitol Hill the other day asking for a supplemental for the military because we seem to be running out of resources to continue the attacks.
The definition of insanity when it comes to our foreign policy regarding Iran is front and center. We need to find another way.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
