THE TRAP OF THE IRANIAN SMILE

In another show of "force," the sculpture of a naked man at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva was covered up, so as not to offend the Iranians who are supposed to enter into serious nuclear talks.  Meanwhile, thousands of advanced centrifuges spin and the production of plutonium continues unabated.  One should talk nevertheless, but one should also beware of hollow, unverifiable proposals and not let the parade become a charade.

President Rouhani's campaign of smiles without subtitles has done wonders seducing the often gullible Western public, which is now being brainwashed by advertising techniques which the Iranians stole in plain daylight. The West follows in Hitler's steps, hiding "decadent" art out of respect for the sensitivity of the prudes who show zero respect in return.  We hide art which might 
hurt the feelings of the "believers" with no other quid pro quo than their hiding weapons of mass-destruction under the bedrock.  The scenario is always the same:  veil or bust! 

In "enlightened" Malaysia, the name of Allah is now protected by "international property rights" and off-limits for use by Western and other infidels.  Meanwhile, the slaughter spreads like wildfire from the Philippines to North Africa, in a climate of indifference and incestuous fatalism.

The West appears to be suffering from an overdose of masochism.  It accumulates Nobel Prizes but looks unable to come to terms with a Jihad's cancer which remains immune to therapy. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were tragic insofar as they made too many victims to no avail. Elsewhere obscurantism rules and many of the refugees who make it to the European shores will be the terrorists of tomorrow.

As usual nothing is done to come to terms with this toxic wave. The West gives in and the intruder takes over.  Our rule of law, traditions, free speech, and freedoms are under assault while we act like accomplices of our own demise. We give in while being kicked out of our own internal socio-cultural boundaries.  As if this were not enough, lately we specialize in the dysfunctional, with a leadership and a foreign policy which prefer to placate rather than to solve. The current ''Russian roulette" games in Washington are unworthy of a great nation and are leaving America's prestige and leadership in a ditch.  For how long? Congress is a replay of the Marquis de Sade's Charenton.

Lots of commentators speak of the end of the West. For my part, I do not exclude the alternative: the end of the rest.  True, as a whole, we do not look good.  Some actions are morally and politically bankrupting our credibility, betraying our founding principles. On the other side, we are confronted with the long-term consequences of the fast-breeding Muslim fertility score, which will change existing equilibrium's. The glitter of the Emirates are monuments to self-aggrandisement which should not intimidate us.  They can hardly be mistaken for interventions aimed at correcting, educating, or enlightening activities which are mostly off-limits and de-localized, contrary to what happens in China.  The joint initiatives with the Louvre or American museums will never replace the power of the prayer mat. The playing field is not level, as is more and more the case between China and the West.

I wonder what the smart Iranians will come up with to anesthetize yet again the Western cuckolds. Better fasten your seat-belts and, as soon as the Iranians depart, be ready to lift the curtain which is hiding, for now, the ''Satanic'' sculpture in Geneva.  Let us hope that Netanyahu will answer the phone when needed, as Beijing and Moscow will be the usual abonnes absents.

Turns for the better may still happen, but the proof will be found in the Iranian pudding. I am afraid that antinomies have staying power .