COVID-19: A dream from the Iron mountain

It’s quite possible that not one of the signatories to that famous report is alive today. But if they were, they’d surely be thrilled by what’s happening in the world today.

According to G. Edward Griffin, American author of several books and the awardwinning treatise “Grand Deception: A second look at the War on Terror”, The report from the Iron mountain was the product of a think-tank study commissioned by the US government in 1966. It was under the supervision of Defense Secretary Robert Macnamara and was produced by the Hudson Institute, at the base of Iron Mountain, in New York; hence its name.

In a nutshell, the thinktank debated on other ways of controlling the thinking and actions of whole populations, apart from war. It’s a well known fact that it’s only in times of war, when people sense a clear and present danger, that they could be controlled towards doing anything their government dictates.

But war, as they knew it then, was getting out of fashion and so alternatives to war were being sought to see how effectively they could control the American people and in the event of a world government, the whole of mankind.

Some of the alternatives considered were:

-Threat of invasions by Aliens from outer space, which gave birth to the idea of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) as captured in the famous television series Project UFO.

-Threat of pollution of Mother Earth, such as the much-touted emission of green house gases and resultant depletion of the Ozone layer.

-The threat of a war against an unseen enemy such as the War on Terror, which has no defined boundaries and no time limit

-The threat of an illness with no cure such as HIV/ AIDS; which will get the whole world agitated and on guard, due to fear of infection and the knowledge that there is no known cure.

Now, it’s not clear which of these alternatives to war the Iron Mountain think-tank favoured, but the ravages of today’s Coronavirus are the stuff their dubious dreams are made of. I mean here is an illness with no known cure but which is very easy to spread, as well as deadly.

Whether COVID-19 is an American biological warfare against China which backfired, or it’s a Chinese attack against its own people, which went global, one thing true, it’s certainly a dream scenario from the Iron Mountain report. Those evil geniuses who sat down in 1966 and sought a way to control humanity, would have been proud to see how this virus has indeed conquered humanity. Suddenly we are all the same, the rich, the poor, black or white, Asian, African, Arab, American and European, we are all scared-stiff and desperate to save our lives through any means possible, even at the expense of freedom.

A new word has been created to capture our selfimposed incarceration: lockdown. Towns, cities and countries and continents are all under ‘lockdown’ and key. But the good thing in all this is how spiritual a great portion of humanity has become, in the face of this invisible but deadly enemy.

My most favourite among all the reflections caused by COVID-19 is this letter from the virus, written by some talented human.

It’s hereby reproduced below.

“Dear humanity, I don’t think I need to introduce myself. The whole world is talking about me, is in lock down because of me, and in perpetual stress because of me. Unlike most of you, I don’t have time to waste, so I’ll get straight to the point and share with you things about myself which the media will not cover.

I do not differentiate between people; young or old, sick or healthy, practicing or otherwise. Don’t accuse me of harshness. I’m simply following the orders of the Supreme Lord who released me.

I’m the one who has busied tyrannical governments from furthering their oppression of their minorities. I am the one who has humbled the pharaohs of the 21st century and snapped the spine of arrogance in every one of them. I am the one who closed the venues of alcohol, fornication, gambling, smoke and terrified every user of interest. I am the one who harasses the disbeliever behind closed doors as he now questions everything he ever stood for. I am the one who struck fear into the heart of every sinner and cornered him into regret. I am the reminder that moral decay cannot go without retribution. I am proud of this, I don’t apologise for it, and shame on the hard hearts of humanity for needing me as their reminder. Yes, you are right; I am also the one who closed the doors of the Mosques. This is my only sorrow, but it is the wish of my Lord and He is Most Wise. Perhaps you will now realise the luxuries of praying in congregation and sitting in the companionship of angels that you’d previously taken for granted. Why did you need me to realise this?

Your entire lives have come to a grinding halt because of me; a weak, microscopic and silent creature of Allah. What then if He was to send my brothers upon you, by flipping your countries over like He did with the people of Loot? Or rained fire over you as He did with the people of Shu’aib? Or instructed the earth to swallow you as He did with Qaaroon?

I did not cause this. My Lord said you did.

“So each We seized for his sin; and among them were those upon whom We sent a storm of stones, and among them were those who were seized by the blast, and among them were those whom We caused the earth to swallow, and among them were those whom We drowned. And Allah would not have wronged them, but it was they who wronged themselves.” (Al-Qur’an, 29:40)

Don’t be afraid of me but of the One who sent me.

Don’t busy yourself thinking about how to avoid me, but how to draw closer to the One who sent me.

I, and the rest of creation, are at His mercy, dominated by His power, helpless without His aid. My forelock is in Hands, His wish is my command, and I prostrate to Him. Don’t allow your heart to obsess over me or anything else. Glorify Allah and think well of Him.

I know myself better than you do, so I will say it how it is;

Many of you will die because of me. Those who pass away upon goodness will meet goodness with Allah and can hope for the station of martyrdom. But those of you who die having neglected Iman, lived without vision and delayed repentance, you will soon come to realise that death was in fact the least of your problems.

I don’t know for how much longer my Lord wants me to be around, but one thing is for sure; I may be the calm before the storm, and if and when that does arrive, what I’m doing to you today will seem like bliss.

I raise my voice out of mercy to you, and so I ask one last time: Will you repent? Will you live with purpose and goals?

Will you promise to follow up every sin with a heartfelt apology?

Your temporary visitor, your sincere advisor, the feeble servant of Allah,

A new word has been created to capture our self-imposed incarceration: lockdown. Towns, cities and countries and continents are all under ‘lockdown’ and key. But the good thing in all this is how spiritual a great portion of humanity has become, in the face of this invisible but deadly enemy.