Iran's Fordo Facility: A Descent into the Maelstrom of Geopolitics

Clean Your Room Then Sanction Iran

Alright so Maxar Technologies has released some satellite imagery of Iran's Fordo nuclear facility. Activity trucks vehicles the whole shebang. Now before we start bombing everything back to the Stone Age let's remember rule number one: Clean your room. I mean can we even be sure our own geopolitical house is in order before we start dictating terms to the ayatollahs? Because chaos my friends is a ladder and sometimes it leads straight down into the abyss.

300 Feet Under: The Archetype of the Underground Bunker

Fordo eh? 300 feet under a mountain reinforced with concrete. Sounds like a particularly stubborn id unwilling to be integrated into the ego. You think you can just waltz in there and 'obliterate' it? That's what Trump claims anyway. A "spectacular military success." Right. That's like saying you've conquered your anxiety by taking a Xanax. Temporary superficial and likely to rebound with a vengeance. Verify your damn claims people. Truth matters even when it's buried under 300 feet of Iranian mountain.

Natanz Isfahan and the Problem of Malevolence

Natanz Isfahan and now Fordo. These are the key enrichment facilities that Trump mentioned. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking of Iran as some monolithic evil empire but that's precisely the kind of Manichean thinking that leads to disastrous consequences. You have to ask yourself: what are the conditions that give rise to this behavior? Because as Dostoevsky so eloquently put it 'The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons'. And I'd add also by looking at its nuclear ambitions.

The IAEA: A Paper Tiger or a Watchful Eye?

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran's nuclear safety center report no radiation or contamination. Hmm. That's comforting isn't it? But is it *true*? Remember people are complex and they're often motivated by things that are difficult to articulate. The IAEA might be telling the truth or they might be telling a truth that's politically palatable. Trust but verify. Because as Nietzsche said 'Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies'. Even the well intentioned ones. Especially those.

The Specter of Obliteration: Order vs. Chaos

This whole situation smells of a descent into the maelstrom. The forces of order represented (allegedly) by the U.S. air strikes clashing with the potential for chaos embodied by a nuclear armed Iran. It's a classic archetypal battle. But remember chaos isn't always bad. It's the fertile ground from which new order emerges. But you have to be careful because the abyss gazes also into you. Before we start reshaping the Middle East let's make damn sure we know what we're doing. And that begins with telling the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help us God.

Buckle Up Buttercups!

So what's the takeaway? First clean your room. Second verify the damn claims. Third understand the archetypal forces at play. And fourth for God's sake learn to think critically. Because the world is a dangerous place and if you're not careful you'll end up becoming someone else's useful idiot. And nobody wants that do they?