Kabuki Theater
Biden says the US won. Iran says it won. Israel says it won. The world is happy WW3 did not start. Is this the “Kabuki Theater” of the whole event being too subtle and requiring a deeper understanding that I obviously do not have? Or is this the other Kabuki?
THE classic form of Japanese theatre known as Kabuki began in 1603 as a female dance and singing ensemble. It was a common form of entertainment in Japanese red-light areas, especially in the Yoshiwara district of Edo.
Two decades later women were banned from performing as many were also prostitutes and the dances were considered too erotic. They were replaced by male actors who also engaged in sex work for both female and male customers.
The word kabuki is believed to derive from kabuku, meaning “out of the ordinary” or the more extreme “bizarre.” It is maybe appropriate that since the 1960s the term “Kabuki Theater” also describes events usually political.
Some describe the Japanese kabuki theater as very subtle and requires deeper understanding that might be overshadowed by the extravagant costumes. Others say that kabuki is nothing more than excessive makeup, that it is all drama, all overacting with little substance and content.
I am beginning to believe that we live in a time of constant global “Kabuki Theater” where nothing is what it appears to be, or, in the words of Shakespeare, “A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Actually, probably both.
We The People have come to fully realize over 30 years or so, particularly with instantaneous and wide dissemination of information, that governments lie. Not occasionally but constantly. Corporate media has embraced those lies and always helps propagate the lies.
I expected to wake up to a peaceful Sunday and not that Iran was attacking Israel. Israel bombs the Iranian consulate in Syria. Iran retaliates. But all good.
Sun Tzu wrote that as a critical strategy an army should “mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy.”
But then we find out from multiple sources that “Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday.” Moreover, “Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials said on Sunday that Iran gave wide notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel.” Turkish officials also said that “Washington had conveyed to Tehran via Ankara that any action it took had to be ‘within certain limits.’” Turkey’s foreign ministry later confirmed the contacts in a statement.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, responded that “Iran did not give the US advanced notice of its attack on Israel.” Further, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby: “Iran never gave us a message giving us the time or the targets.” And “A US official said late last Thursday that the US expects an attack by Iran against Israel but one that would not be big enough to draw Washington into war.”
On the day of the attack “President Joe Biden lauded American forces who helped Israel down nearly all of the drones and missiles fired by Iran and vowed to coordinate a global response to Tehran’s unprecedented attack.”
April 15, 2024: “President Biden said Monday that the US and Israel “defeated” the unprecedented Iranian attacks over the weekend.” Maybe it is just me, but that sounds like the US was “drawn into war.”
So, let’s try to put it all together. Iran tells at least Turkey—and probably Iraq and Jordan since Iran’s weapons must overfly those two nations—that the attack on Israel is coming. Turkey says the US was informed and sort of signed off on Iran’s military response. US says no way did they know but were ready to knock down the Iranian drones and missiles anyway.
Iran sends 170 drones that each takes one to two hours of flying time to reach Israel, which does not provide much “mystify, mislead, and surprise.” Israeli military also said the vast majority of the projectiles were intercepted outside the country with help from the US, the UK, and France. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the US also intercepted “dozens” of missiles and drones launched from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
All the calls that we were on the verge of WWIII appear to have been sensationalistic clickbait. Of course, it is not over—it is never over where the Middle East in concerned. But what exactly was the purpose for what happened last Sunday?
Biden says the US won. Iran says it won. Israel says it won. The world is happy WW3 did not start. Is this the “Kabuki Theater” of the whole event being too subtle and requiring a deeper understanding that I obviously do not have? Or is this the other Kabuki?
That beautiful woman with Kumadori makeup, a katsura wig, and wearing a Hakama you have fallen in love with is probably an onnagata actor like Nakamura Kankurō VI with an actress/model wife and two children.