The open gate: How the West is being walked into the killing field - opinion

Genghis Khan understood a weakness in human nature that Western diplomacy seems determined to ignore: a man who believes himself trapped may fight ferociously, but offer him a path to safety and he may abandon every advantage that kept him alive.The Mongol nerge began as a hunting technique. Horsemen spread across the steppe, tightened their formation, and drove the quarry into a narrowing enclosure.In war, their successors sometimes left a deliberate opening. Soldiers who fled through it lost the protection of their formations and became easier to pursue.At the Battle of Mohi in 1241, Batu Khan's forces used this principle against the Hungarians.The escape route belonged to the hunters.Each negotiating country can pursue its interests and still leave Iran a threatI thought of that maneuver while watching Washington pursue another settlement with Tehran, with Qatar once again installed as the indispensable intermediary.The comparison is strategic, not an allegation that Doha and the Islamic Republic share a secret battle plan. They need not.The danger is that each participant can pursue its own interest while the final arrangement leaves Iran better placed to threaten its adversaries.On November 9, US President Donald Trump met Qatar's prime minister amid discussions over Iran, sanctions, and the Strait of Hormuz.