“Some (most?) Iranian Expatriates I have spoken to were relieved by Obama’s remarks because their chief concern in US-Iranian relations is that there not be a war. It is understandable, since a war would endanger their family members. For these people, confrontation with the Iranian regime is scary, while diplomacy, no matter how ineffectual, is relieving.”
My Iranian neighbors have an entirely different view. While they are leery of war, they view Obama as an appeaser who will grant credibility to the Ayatollah’s totalitarian (Ayatollahtarian? HA!) regime and cause irrepairable damage to the democratic/resistance movements both in Iran and abroad. They see Obama’s idea of diplomacy being an end in-and-of itself as terribly misguided and potentially dangerous.
