The president’s response to the sentencing of Roxana Saberi—eight years in prison—is a testament to the power of Iranian blackmail and Obama’s own pigheaded refusal to understand the nature of our enemies. His “disappointment” in the mullahs’ action (echoed almost to the letter by Secretary of State Clinton) suggests that he hoped, maybe even expected, something better from them. And that, in turn, demonstrates a refusal to see Iran for what it is.
If I were Saberi’s Iranian-American father, I would be furious, and I would be inclined to call a press conference to say that, while it may be interesting to know the President’s state of mind, and even a bit sad that he is disappointed, American presidents are not paid to share their emotions with us. Among other things, they are paid to defend us from our enemies. He has manifestly failed to do this in the case of Roxana. I would ask the president very publicly, “are you going to do anything for my daughter or not? Never mind ‘I’m disappointed.’ What will you do for her, and for the other Americans in the grips of the mullahs? Or are you going to wait until there are dozens of American hostages in Iranian hands?”
I think it’s a bit inconsistent for the president to take credit for the liberation of Captain Phillips—through the use of overwhelming military power—and then limit himself to expressing disappointment at the brutal treatment of an American journalist. Why is Captain Phillips worth the deployment of the U.S. Navy, while Ms Saberi is barely worth a sigh of disappointment?
I’m totally amazed at your comments!
I mean your comments doesn’t indicate the vast amount of information you have about what is really going on behind the scene in Iran, and the in-fighting among different factions. And yet you end up comparing that to sharp shooters that freed Captain Phillips!!!! And then dumping everything on Obama!!! I mean you are comparing a “PIRATING” action to a UN member with all its bells and whistles!!!
And who is the strongest Ahmadinejad for next election? Shimon Prez!!! He gave his 1000% Israel support by making Ahmadinejad the symbol of what Israel fear, so for sure his great endorsement will work in Ahmadinejad favor to gain more votes!! Keep up the good work Israel!
Excellent post, IMO.
I agree that Obama is totally committed to negotiations — with just about every rogue nation, stateless group and tyrant in the world.
That being the case, I wonder what criteria he has established pre hoc that, when met, will have convinced him that his negotiations have failed, and to abandon them in favor of more aggressive policies. I wonder if he has established a timeline for withdrawal.
In other words, how has he defined “negotiational failure” and what is his deadline?
How’s this for a strong reaction? From the AP: “Obama says reaching out to enemies strengthens US.” Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090419/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cb_obama_summit
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Defending his brand of world politics, President Barack Obama said Sunday that he “strengthens our hand” by reaching out to enemies of the United States and making sure that the nation is a leader, not a lecturer, of democracy.
———————————–
There will come a time when you begin questioning his manhood, not merely his geopolitics. I’m almost there.
We knew this man, Obama, is a clueless person but no one took us seriously and we’re all gonna pay the price for his naive approach to the US enemies. I am terrified for the US and its allies until 2012.
Saberi is an Iranian agent. The court case is how Iranian intelligence is bringing her back into the fold.
Please do not pretend to even care for us Iranians. We are suffering precisely because of your friends misguided policies to place sanctions and embargoes on Iran. If history has taught us anything it is that sanctions harm the general public and not the theocratic leadership.
Lets save the Iranians by bombing their country and supporting disastrous economic sanctions… all in the name of saving Iranians!!!
This is a trial balloon. It’s no coincidence that North Korea has also abducted Americans and said they are going to be put on trial. This is testing the waters to see how far they can push Obama during negotiations. The reasoning is if we won’t stand up to them on this, then they will be able to get maximum concessions during negotiations.
This is a well-worn technique of dictatorships when negotiations are imminent.
It is difficult to comprehend a journalist who expects to go to Iran and not get the proper press papers and then to buy items prohibited under Islamic Law and not expect to be arrested. Is this going to be an illustrated “how to” book. The Annenberg School of Journalism at USC just had a reporter arrested for not having requested press papers and only part of their campus is governed by Sharia. Of course having worked for the NYT, BBC, and NPR she might not have had experience with reporting realities, unless she had a muslim background.
We are suffering precisely because of your friends misguided policies to place sanctions and embargoes on Iran.
You are suffering because your country is run by mullahs and your leadership is determined to have nuclear weapons even as your Holocaust denying President says Israel should be wiped off the face of the world.
You will suffer more because of your belief that Israel will seek a permission slip from the United States and not take action to end this threat to its existence. If the people of Iran want to end the suffering they need to rise up and remove the mullahs.
C’mon, Obambi. Quit voting ‘present’ and do something useful.
Haleh,
If I recall correctly, Michael Ledeen has been outspoken about the futility and counter-productivity of sanctions… Rather, ML has called for US support of Iranian reformers towards a revolution from within.
Consider, though, that while it’s preferable to obtain success via changing hearts and minds, some suggest that splattering them is a viable option. The Obama Administration and this Congress have no interest in doing either. Nothing beyond, as Paul said, voting ‘Present’. US leadership has been consistently too timid and stupid to even lend vocal support to Iran’s dissidents. It is going to be a long four years, Sir.
Please give president obama some time to think of reasons why it the American People’s fault that this young woman is being sentenced to eight years in prison. He will then apologize to Iran. Please be patient, hope and change take time.
The US government will not do anything for you if you are detained by a foreign country. You are on your own. I won’t blame Obama for this, it is SOP for our State Department. If they vigorously represented American’s interests, they wouldn’t get invited to the best parties.
I only visit friendly countries, and stay out of trouble. I’ve never had a problem abroad. I don’t think that is coincidence.
This is an excellent example of how Obama plans to protect Americans.He was fully revealed during the presidential campaign. Why is anyone surprised by his weakness and duplicity?
2.Brian: “That being the case, I wonder what criteria he has established pre hoc that, when met, will have convinced him that his negotiations have failed, and to abandon them in favor of more aggressive policies”
Oh, goodness. There will never be any need or expectation for him to “acknowledge that negotiations have failed, and…abandon them in favor of more aggressive policites”.
Remember that with leftist liberals, it’s only their good intentions at the front end that count. Results and reality are never a factor in their thinking or behavior.
Part of his motive for doing what he is doing on the world stage right now is the same as Bill Clinton’s acknowledged motive for doing what he did with Monica in the White House. Bill’s words were to the effect of, “I did it because I could.”
I think obama’s motives and therefore predictions about his future actions would be far simpler to understand if we simply took him at face value. Realize that we are looking at the river that is 50 miles wide and 1 inch deep; and accept that he really does think it’s just all about him and he is going to do whatever he wants to just because he can.
Obama, short of regime change and another war inside Iran cannot do a damned thing about this womans lack of thought, foresight and grasp of reality. She went to Iran as an Iranian citizens and broke Iranian Sharia laws, she is on her own. When and if she survives and comes home I bet she begins to praise the warmth and good of her captors and starts to condemn America as the aggressor.
While I agree that Obama’s response shows more weakness I’m not sure what could be done to rectify the situation. All the options I see are bad and worse.
What a stupid essay! Mr Ledeen doesn’t seem to know the difference between the two cases and the limits of US power with Iran.
C’mon people, Obama is a socialist, they like to feel good and say nice things about everyone, everyone except conservative Americans, who they see as evil and the cause of all evil in the universe. If you want a protest have the young woman labeled an “American Socialist spy” then you would see Obama jump. Or better still label her “A green biodegradable non toxic, non polluting, does not contribute to global warming, lesbian spy” then the whole leftist dream world touchy feely Demoncrats would rise up and cry out in frustration and protest about how the Iranians don’t play fair.
Barack Obama is existentially committed to “soft power” tactics. He is convinced that a harder approach will only backfire and make things worse. Obama, in his heart of hearts, is a sentimental appeaser. He is also an intellectually shallow man who knows little about the rise of Adolph Hitler and other tin pot dictators. The Fuhrer, for instance, should be today nothing more than a trivia question. I am convinced that he would have been pushed out of power by his fellow Germans by no later than 1936 had the West stood up to him militarily. Our naive president is inadvertently empowering our enemies.
There is also another point that must be added: Barack Obama has not worked out his hostility towards white people. He subconsciously perceives darker skinned foes of our country as fellow victims of white oppression. It’s presumably our fault that they are upset and threatening.
And, how do we know she isn’t working for Mossad?
As long as the Sakharov model is avoided by those with their hands on the levers of power
- we will continue to see the mistakes of the past repeated.
Moral equivalence is an insidious blight, and
BHO has that in spades.
“Soft Power” Right. Physicians call the condition “E.D.”
“He subconsciously perceives darker skinned foes of our country as fellow victims of white oppression”–18.DavidT
I agree with your post, but question one word in this sentence. I don’t think his perceptions are subconscious at all.
“I don’t think his perceptions are subconscious at all.”
Barack Obama is a man “who is not in touch with his feelings.” I m convinced that if he would be appalled by my remarks. They would be deemed the craziest nonsense
Obama he has ever read. And yet, he listened on a weekly basis for twenty years the racist rants of Rev. Jeremiah wright. One does not do this unless they minimally on a gut level agree with such utterings.
There is actually a beautiful benefit in” Obama the Appeaser ” In the longer run, in the grand scheme of things, he will be perceived as lacking in decisiveness, soon some power hungry dictator will make a move that will expose the Obama weakness. After great harm is done the people of America will wake up and go conservative in the next election. Quite often great good can come from pain. I just feel great sorrow for all who will suffer because of his lack of clearly seeing the world as it truly is, rather than how he deludes himself into seeing it as he dreams it should be. Must be all that pot he smoked in his early years.
The joke is on US or more specifically the USA. After seeing 0bama’s bubble-butt jutting out of his pants as he bowed on bended knee to the Saudi King I realized the jig is up and the left are so blinded by their white-American president that they’ll ‘cover’ for him no matter what. We are being played for fools and the MSM on in on the ‘fool me once, twice, three times an idiot’ game.
‘on in on’? Grr. IS IN ON.
Why do typos only glare at you after you hit submit?
22.David Thomson…I was clumsy in my expression I think. I believe that his perceptions (as you accurately describe them) ARE conscious and that his deliberate choices now are simply implementation of what he thinks.
It is the promised inside out.Their man is now inside..Obama has shown that he is pro moslem and will do noting to offend them and will go out of his way to curry their favor towards him.
24 Delia:
Right on!
Well, maybe he could regift her a book to pass the time.
–The UnPatriot
President Obama will give other dictators the key to kingdom for peanuts. He is a fool. Worse, Obama does see he is a fool, but the smartest man on the planet & possibly the universe. The MSM is not helping matters.
Terry Gain says: “You are suffering because your country is run by mullahs and your leadership is determined to have nuclear weapons even as your Holocaust denying President says Israel should be wiped off the face of the world. ”
Of course we are. Dont you think we dont know that?!?!?!?!? I’m offended. What I’m saying is that you are not helping us fight this regime with all these sanctions. They only make the mullahs stronger. How can we fight them off when the first thing that comes to our mind is finding the food to place on the table for our children?
Ran says: “Ran:
Haleh,
If I recall correctly, Michael Ledeen has been outspoken about the futility and counter-productivity of sanctions… Rather, ML has called for US support of Iranian reformers towards a revolution from within.
Consider, though, that while it’s preferable to obtain success via changing hearts and minds, some suggest that splattering them is a viable option. The Obama Administration and this Congress have no interest in doing either. Nothing beyond, as Paul said, voting ‘Present’. US leadership has been consistently too timid and stupid to even lend vocal support to Iran’s dissidents. It is going to be a long four years, Sir.”
The only way that can work is for you to remove the sanctions so we can have some breathing room. Currently everyone is worried about how to feed their family rather than changing regime.
Haleh,
I respectfully disagree. The mullahs have plenty to direct to the economy. The notion is laughable that lifting sanctions would result in more economic activity beyond the mullah’s tight-fisted control. Believe it, the cost of that ridiculous nuke programme alone would keep a lot of businesses afloat. All of that wealth is being diverted despite the sanctions. Then there’s the huge amount of cash being socked away in foreign accounts for when things do finally collapse. Go directly to the source of the biggest financial problems… It lies much closer to home.
Dr Ledeen, if I were Roxana’s father I would do the same thing he is doing now: begging mullahs to forgive her daughter. You know why? This is exactly what the West (EU and US) have been doing during all the past years. He is sure no one would take any serious measures against mullahs. Why should he make them angrier by speaking to the press? Ziba ( Zahra) Kazemi was murdered in mullahs jails. And what happened? NOTHING. And yet Ahmadinezhad is invited to Geneva and the president of Switzerland shakes hand with him ( and in their negotiations maybe asks if the guy liked Switzerland’s foreign minister’s scarf during her visit to Iran to sign the big gas contract.)During his speech the western diplomats leave the place. What did they really expect him? They thought he would turn into a Nelson Mandella overnight? Isn’t it funny? You invite a lunatic, you roll out red carpet for him, your reply to all his threats are begging for “more negotiations” in exchange for rewards, you postpone even deciding on new watrey,good-for-nothing resolutions although the guy repeatedly tells you he would not give up his nuclear ambitions, and you still feign ignorance.
It is sad to see that Obama is even dumber than Bush.
12. Meryl.
My tongue was firmly in my cheek — just as the left demanded of Bush that he outline an “Exit Strategy” with Timetable for Iraq, so I think we should insist that Obama give define an Exit Strategy with Time table from fruitless negotiations.
This administration does not have will-power to confront the enemy. The mullahs never, ever, abandon their nuclear program, because it is inseparable with the evil nature of regime.
We who looking forward to clean up the Middle East from corrupt tyrannical regimes and fascist fundamentalist Islam, also we disappointed! Unfortunately, we see superpower president bowed on his knee to the tyrannical leaders.
If you want to live with a nuclear Iran, you and Israel should be prepared to be nuked!!!
I would advise Mr President Obama wear his turban!!!
***A world without tyrannical regimes & without fundamentalist Islam***
Debbie Schossel thinks Saberi is a NPR/BBC reporter who was/is an apologist for the Iranians for years and that her imprisonment is ironical. What is the truth of it all ?
“During his speech the western diplomats leave the place. What did they really expect him? They thought he would turn into a Nelson Mandella overnight? Isn’t it funny? You invite a lunatic, you roll out red carpet for him, your reply to all his threats are begging for “more negotiations” in exchange for rewards, you postpone even deciding on new watrey,good-for-nothing resolutions although the guy repeatedly tells you he would not give up his nuclear ambitions, and you still feign ignorance.”
precisely this guy and his masters make their lunatic policy according the importance they get from the medias, and this conference finally reversed to a slap into their face, now the ultimatum left for the others is “do you endorse Iran policy or not” ; difficult for a nuanced Arab to clearly side a position ; it will go “funny” in the next days, already Teheran said that that reaction is “marginal” but they expected that their president puppet would have got the opportunity to discuss the composition of the security council and the veto right while the whole world was watching the event
I am sorry for the girl but she was an easy prey for the Mullahs that used her as a pression on the Americans for the last discussions about Afghanistan’s fate.
Now, in the contrary to what many people say here, I think that mamy Clinton adopted the wise attitude, don’t let the Mullahs get the credit of their medias happenings, and now that the girl isn’t useful for them anymore, that her trial was a mere mise-en-scene, and that her condamnation moved along medias emotions,she might be released for illness excuse, cuz it doesn’t appear that she had bad “relations” with the regime before, anyway, I hope that for her
You’re right on the mark Mr. Ledeen, anything short of all out war over her imprisonment is Munich redux by all those crummy atheistic communist appeasers.
In his zest to undo the supposed evils of the past administration Obama is yielding far too much ground. Obama seems to be advancing his own agenda and it is not in the best interests of America. What he will find is that in international matters being nice only gets you in trouble. Obama apologizes for past US “mistakes” what will he say after the next terror attack on US soil, we had it coming? He needs to stand up for America and its citizens instead of apologizing. His muteness during the recent pirate affair shows a lack of leadership. Its successful ending had little to do with Obama. His response over Saberi should be upsetting. He is being tested and he isn’t even failing. You can liken that to a new astronomy theory which gets a response from astronomers that it’s so bad it’s “not even wrong”!
The woman wanted to do research for a story likely detrimental to the Iranian government. Probably entered Iran on her Iranian passport, since she’s apparently a dual citizen, and now we are expected to bail her out of this problem. Where do all of these “journalist” come off thinking that what they can do here is something that they can in another country? But throw in the dual citizenship issue, and what business is it of ours since that’s her other country?
Hussein Obama is an Islamist Appeaser.
Having said that, Saberi’s arrest was due to her close ties with Khatami who has in turn close ties (read he is the stooge of) European traditionalists specifically Germany and Austria, where he was trained as a mullah(Islamic Institute of Hamourg in Germany where he was ‘indoctrinated’ along with Ay. Beheshti who is in mullah heaven now.)
After ousting Khatami out of the presidential race by coercion, the fundamentalists(Russian-Chinese faction within the regime) currently represented by Nejad, went after Khatami’s accopmlices, inclduing Ms. Saberi. The rumour and fear amongst Nejad and company was that Khatami could declare Saberi as a sort of running-mate and attain a landslide victory in June.
So they took care of both in a one-two punch.
Now Khatami is ‘taken care of’ and I am glad of that. See, the last thing we want is a ‘refromist modrate’ running the Islamic Republic of Terror of Tehran. I know that goes against what many, including the esteemed Dr. Ledeen, want to see happen. But that will only lead to 30-years more of the same regime.
You see, Nejad is the best choice for June elections in Iran to win again. Simply because he will lead the regime into the toilet of history much quicker than his western-ties opponents like Khatami, Rafsanjani, and yes Moussavi(who is the latest darling of the western well-wishers who by naivite or by design are supporting him; including Dr. Ledeen himself who previously inferred in his blog here that Moussavi can bring freedom to the Iranian people, and that he is ‘interesting’ and an ‘artist and an architect’! Talk about plugging a candidate –This is regime change in your view? I wonder if the western lovers of Khatami and Khatamite ‘reformists’ can really sleep at night preaching regime change, but supporting regime continuity under a ‘reformist’ behind the scenes.)
Nejad’s re-election is uncertain, but it’s the best thing that could happen for regime change since the Russian Revolution. Remember “Intensification of Antagonisms” within the society that Lenin preached will lead to revolution quicker? Well, Nejad is it.
But, Hussein Obama, nevertheless, is an Islamist Appeaser.
uh, Khatami, isn’t he the nice face of the regime that was conveniently pushed ahead when the Mullahs need to show a good figure ?
Rafsandjani couldn’t assume the representation anymore after that Interpol was after him.
Khatami was the lure to make the western world believe that Iran was going into reforms, to make believe that there were dissident students manifestations when they were orchestratred by the regime, and this helped Iran to purchase what she need from rogue states to realise her nuclear program…
Would you believe that these nice characters would let “moderateds” alive ?
Saberi was arrested in February and initial claim was that she bought some alcohol. I think the timing was perfect! Saberi has been living there for the last 6 year, why arrest her now??
Because Regime knows how to play Obama..they put the spying charges on her and they will keep her for a couple months and then, they will release her as a good gesture to Obama’s outreach, and then the true love affair will begin between the Mullahs’ and Obama’s.
I cannot wait until I see Obama bowing to the Mullahs!! I think by end of Obama’s first term, he will have pictures of him bowing, hugging and kissing all the dictators around the world. Not a bad accomplishment for the first term!
Haleh,
actually, you are touching on exactly the question I have asked myself for years, and don’t have a satisfactory answer. Sanctions don’t work well (they fall too heavily on the common people), but “business as usual” doesn’t help either. So many people have told themselves that China or Saudi Arabia would change by being integrated in the world economy, but instead it takes all incentive (what motivates them to change if the U.S. and Europe will trade with them anyway?)
The only other option, of course, is invasion and nation-building, and that one doesn’t have such a good track-record either.
Azad Ansdeesh, Marie Claude, and Frieda I agree with you all.
Marie, the worst thing that can happen in June is for another so-called Euro-plant to become president of the Islamic Repulsive of Turds of Tehran. The resulting pig with lipstick would be even worse than Khatami was, and it will mean another lease on life on the nasty life of the regime.
That’s why I will be rooting for the person who will stir things up even more, and get things even closer to the brink both inside Iran and outside: Nejad.
I’m not going to shed many tears for Saberi, who spent her time as an NPR correspondent whitewashing the Iranian regime and acting as the Mullahs’ mouthpiece for Western ears. So the snakes she lay down with finally bit her- don’t look to me for sympathy.
The answer is simple. Obambi is all about Obambi, not about the country, not about fellow Americans, not about the abused, tortured and murdered peoples of nations ruled by tyrants who ply their trade against their own people. Obambi is all about Obambi. So the rescue, or possible rescue, or even making a fuss over a single American journalist held by the Iranians is not politically expedient for Obambi. In other words it won’t do anything to enhance his own image of himself, while the rescue of Captain Phillips, with the whole world watching, does nothing but glorify the Obambi.
Want to do something that will induce the Ayatollahs to free this woman? I’ll tell you what to do. Send a battalion of Marines or Army infantry to the UN building and arrest every Iranian there. Hold them hostage until she and all other hostages have been released by Iran. (Just to make their stay memorable feed them exclusivly on MREs.) Expel said Iranians from the US once she is safe. Tell Iran they can send a new set of spies and grifters there, but any hostages taking by Iran in future, like this case or that of the Btriish naval personnel of a couple of years ago, will result in the same treatment or some worse action. You can leave the latter to their imaginations.
Against international law? Bah, the only thing “international law” seems to be good for now is harassing the USA and Israel, on the basis of imaginary transgressions. Our enemies certainly pay no attention to it. Iran is the country that seized our embassy 30 years ago and held our diplomatic personnel hostage for over a year. In that act Iran declared war on the USA. They have never settled that so turn about is fair play. If that is the way Iran wants to conduct international relations then we can do it too. We have not prosecuted that war, but it still exists in legal terms. In this way we would be speaking to the Ayatollahs and Gorilla Boy in language they can understand. In dealing with a mule you have to hit him over the head with a two-by-four first, to get his attention. So it is with them.
The time is long past for handling Mullahs, terrorists, pirates, and assorted other scum by Marquess of Queensberry rules. If Gorilla Boy in Teheran or Li’l Kim in Pyongyang or Chavez in Venezuela or the pirate chiefs of Eyl want to swagger about like tough guys and bullies, we should find ways to treat them accordingly, and send them home crying for their mothers.
As for the Iranians, the acceptance by so many of them of the Ayatollahs for so long, despite what they are doing to the Iranians, indicates widespread consent to that government. If the Iranian people do not want to be fried in a war the Ayatollahs provoke in their mad search for power and imperial expansion, they had better overthrow these jerks now, before it’s too late.
I thank God for not having people like those who post on this site running U.S. Your way of thinking and handling issues has only caused mass killing, revenge, misleading of the public hate and misinformation and brainwashing… and much more.
You lack any real true workable solutions to ANYTHING!!! REALLY!!!. The high levels of testosterone in your body prevents many of you think in rational way, which ultimately leads to more destruction of humanity.
Michael Lonie is one clear sample of your way of thinking. You kill more and they end up killing more and then you kill more and then they kill more and you just keep doing that and more and more and more. Now get busy and load more nonsense solutions here.
This is just one little reporter. What should Obama do, bomb Iran? Get real dude, he stated that he’s appalled by it, and you not being privy to what actually goes on between world leaders have no idea what kind of communique has been sent to Tehran. Clinton also spoke out against it. You have to be smart, not trigger happy. You get a lot more accomplished. We all know Iranian leaders are idiots, they don’t like us, and are holding this reporter out of spite. Don’t worry she will be released this year.
oWho is this Alireza the pbvious “boy” of the regime in tehran? And why is it that he represents the Islamist point of view without fear?
It’s because we’re a democracy, and the regime he represents is not.
h and Jack T, Don’t worry you will be released this year too. Are you a prophet?
Really Jack? Generally “quiet diplomacy” leads to nothing. Let the Iranian Government and the others keep getting away with their habits of hostage taking and terrorism and you get more of it, lots more. It escalates, as the Jihadist terrorism escalated through the 1990s until we got 9/11.
And if you were that poor prisoner railroaded in an unjust show trial by a bunch of maniacal brutes you’d want the US to do a lot more for you than finger wag some Iranian diplomat at an Embassy party in Geneva.
As for bombing, if one feels that necessary, a good target would be Iran’s one gasoline refinery. Minimal damage, maximal effects. If the US and UK had done that when the first British sailors were taken hostage (that’s an act of war, remember) the Ayatollahs would be singing a much softer tune now, and would not be looking for innocent writers to railroad with show trials. But you will notice that I did not suggest bombing over this incident. I just suggested treating Iranian diplomats the way Iran has treated other diplomats. Precedent, you know.
I lack a workable solution for anything, eh Alireza? Your buddies in Tehran are stoking up a boiler without an outlet. They will provoke a nuclear war. When they do the Iranian people will be fried in the exchange. I want to prevent that. I’d be perfectly happy to see the swine ruling Iran overthrown without any violence. Modern authoritarian states are experts at repression, however, and I suspect that the Ayatollahs have learned from their Russian and Chinese pals, as well as their own experience, how to maintain power even if everybody hates you. So there will be blood if they are to be overthrown. You object to my comments because I see things clearly and do not mince words.
It is true that I see the advisability of using violence against those who use violence against us. And the problem is? We live in a time of civilizational entropy. Things are disintergrating around us, in large part because we in the West do not have the moral fortitude to fight it. Piracy runs ramapnt. Countries that were orderly a few years ago descend into chaos, and disorderly ones into worse (e.g. Somailia). Terrorism stalks the world and countries like Iran gleefully support and encourage it. If there is to be some kind of halfway decent order in the world, where people can develop economically and culturally in an atmosphere of freedom, it will have to be fought for, by military, dioplomatic, intelligence, economic, cultural and other power all used at the same time. The refusal to recognize that allows the agents of entropy, like Ahmedinejad and his poodles, or the pirates of Somalia, Nigeria and elsewhere, to go from strength to strength.
As for no solutions, ask a German Nazi if violence by the Allies solved the problem of a violently, aggressive, racist Nazi Germany from continuing its rampages. The failure of the Iranians to get rid of the Ayatollahs and the failure of the custard heads in the West to do something about them while they still don’t have nukes is going to cost everyone millions of lives. Not because Americans are so violent but because the Ayatollahs and their Iranian supporters will leave us no more choice about using massive violence than the Allies were left with a choice in WWII. I want to prevent WWIII, evidently you want to sing Kumbaya until Gorilla Boy unleashes the nukes.
Don’t like my suggestion? From your name you are Iranian, whereever you now live. Get up and overthrow those scum governing Iran before they get half the Iranian people, and who knows how many millions of others, killed. It’s very difficult, as I noted wrt modern repressive governments, but it’s either that or, in the long run (and not so far out in time either) a war the Ayatollahs will provoke. Choose!
Michale Lonni
Say it like it is my man. Let the regime’s hidden and obvious operatives bark all they want.
Also, don’t forget that the people who want to keep and maintain the Islamic Fascist Republic of Iran, are now doing all they can thru their media outlets to persuade people to not to vote for Ahmadinejad in June and vote for Moussavi instead.
This is because they know if Nejad gets in again, the regime’s days will be numbered. It’s funny when Iranian people’s best friend becomes Bibi Netanyahu, but it is basically true now since Hussein Obama and his terrorist pals are for sleeping with the mullah regime.
There are two questions here. First, was the trial of Roxana Saberi fair, just, or according to our standards of civilized law? Probably not. Iran doesn’t run by our standards, and we shouldn’t expect them to do so.
Second, would the President making a strong statement, threatening sanctions, and otherwise asserting America’s strong interest in the case have done any good? I think not. This is briar patch country; the more we show we want something, the more likely Iran is to withhold it from us.
And the result shows the wisdom of not playing cowboy with Iran. Ahmadinejad and the ruling clique want favorable international publicity. They want to confound the U.S. by showing that they’re not crazy islamists. So they’ve granted Saberi another trial. Will the new trial be any more fair than the last? Probably not, but it may lead to Saberi’s release.
I am an Iranian and I am totally agree with what Terry Gain has written on top.
We, Iranian are sufferring because mullahs are running in our country. we, people of Iran have to rise up and over throw these dirty mullahs as soon as possible and free our people.
We have to request from international community and all the world to put more sanction on mullahs regime. Just imagine if these mullahs become successful to get nuclear weapons. this regime is helping terrorist groups, then think when they get this nuclear weapons, what would happen to the world.
I also believe US leadership has been consistently too timid to confront with mullahs and as Ran mentioned even give vocal support to Iran’s dissidents and their main opposition, PMOI.
we should ask for stronger and more sanctions on mullahs regime.
Halleh, our children don’t have food because of mullahs and not because of sanctions. if they stop the sanctions, all the money and … will go into pocket of mullahs again and still our children don’t have food.
we have to over throw these mullahs this is the only solution!! we have to support these sanctions. we have to ask international pressure to stop mullahs from making atomic bomb.
Nasrin
“Nasrin”, I agree with most of what you said, and it will–someday–come to that: people of Iran overthrowing the mullah regime, just like they disposed of a monarchy that had become out of touch with its own people(like the French Revolution before it.)
It’s just that in 1979, there was no civic democratic institutions left standing by the Shah to carry the mantle of people’s revolution, so the uprising fell onto the laps of the mullahs who were the only political force not touched by the Shah. So we owe this current Islamist regime to the faux pas of the Shah’s regime itself partly.
However, for sanctions to “work” and instigate an uprising in the populace, they have to be severe and biting; e.g, total embargo of gasoline imports into Iran followed within months by a sea-blockade of the Persian Gulf and the Hormuz Straits to choke off the regime’s economic life line.
Yes, it will be hard on the people in Iran, but then again living in hell with this regime and not doing anything about it is an even worse option. What has to be done–what needed to be done 25 years ago even– must be done no matter what. The curent mullah regime must go and there is no other way about it. I think all country-loving Iranians agree on that.
All experts agree that the regime has around 10%-15% popular support and is despised by the overwhelming majority of Iranian people. So why have they not risen so far and finish off the mullahs?
Iranians are ready for revolting against the Islamic Republic of the Terrorist Turds of Tehran, but as in the past, they need an impetus to push them to the brink to actually rise up en masse. With the Shah, it was years of political persecutions, arrests, and torture of political dissidents performed by Shah’s secret police,SAVAK, that finally pushed people over the edge.
The mullahs have now proven that with their murders, torture, and persecutions of Iranians, they are multitudes worst than SAVAK ever was.
Add to this the ugly ideological stench of Islamic Fascism and you’ve got an explosive situation that could go ‘boom’ at anytime.
But again, Iranians always have needed that extra push to finally rise up and do the job, and hopefully severe and biting sanctions could provide that push.
If not, then we will be looking at a ‘push’ from outside, like an Israeli and/or US strike(s) to provide that impetus for Iranians to finally, actually, physically do something about setting their own destiny and rid themselves of this menace, the regime of mullahs and their cohorts.
It’s up to the Iranian people to decide now: do it now yourselves, or wait for foreign military force to weaken the regime so you can then finish the job. But the cost in blood and treasure(if there is any left which has not been plundered by the mullahs or given away to Arab terrorists worldwide for free) and the collaterla damage and cost to Iran will be a thousand-fold if the second option is taken.
I personally think that if Nejad is re-elected in June, we are looking at a snaction-which-will-lead-to-war scenario.
But there are no free lunches, especially in today’s dog-eat-dog world. No one is going to care for Iranian secular democracy but Iranian secular democrats themselves. Iranian people have to realize that they cannot just ignore the regime, look the other way, and sweep the garbage under the rug any longer as they have done in the past 30-years vis a vis this abominable regime. Iranians have to learn that if they want to live free and democratic, like Mossadegh wished for Iran back inthe 50′s, they will have to take things in their own hands again as they have shown in their history several times that they are capable of doing just that.
Well, it’s time again, the ante is up.
Sorry to say, but here is the message to the Iranian people:
young girl tight dresses, long boots and loose scarves; men and women plastic surgery Nose jobs, clandestine dance and boozing parties, vacations to Dubai and Kish Island resorts, etc. cannot and will not solve your problems.
Pull out your collective heads out of the soil, wake up and smell the stench of the regime you are living under!
If you choose not to, it will certainly be your undoing for a long long time.
With friends like AEI, Iranian people do not need any enemies:
Look at Excerpts from Kagan’s statement about Iran at AEI; the whole lot of them are backing off regime change over there.
Regime change, he said, was something “we are going to aim for over generations.” Said Kagan. http://original.antiwar.com/ali-gharib/2009/04/28/hawks-look-for-new-ways-to-package-iran-views/
It should be important to focus on the evidence obtained concerning whether or not she is a spy. From what I read, she went around filming things in Iran. The Iranian government probably trailed her for a long time (she was there 8 years) and has a lot of evidence. Otherwise they would not have arrested her. She might be a bona-fide spy. For whom I am not sure. It seems from the discourse above that she isn’t a spy. Like you are all so naive to believe there are no spies in Iran? Let this case work it’s way through the Iranian court system, and let’s see the evidence.
Eva Bro You dont know shit!
:)
Ira Zad, thank you for your points you mentioned above, but I should mention that Iranian people are ready to rise and make another revolution, but perhaps you have not lived in a society that a fascist rules, a religious fascist like mullahs. You talk so simply about rising and over throwing the mullahs, it seems you are not aware about every day events in IRAN. And I feel that you have only seen those people in Iran who are rich and just care about themselves, about their parties and their cloths and so on… but in other side there is a resistance which has been fighting for 30 years against these evil mullahs, the main opposition PMOI. You are not even allowed to mention the name of POMI in Iran, because immediately they will execute you!! I have lost many of my friends and my relatives in this just resistance. I don’t know if you heard that just recently a supporter of the dissident People’s Mujahedin of Iran succumbed to injuries sustained during torture at the hands of Iranian authorities. Mahmoud Ghassemzadeh, 48, died as a result of torture by Iranian authorities April 18. Another PMOI supporter, Abdolreaz Rajabi, died Oct. 30 while in custody at the Gohardasht prison in Iran the same reason.
I don’t know if you are aware about so many protests gathering that is going on every day in different universities, different cities in my country. Many teachers, labors… but do you think what happens to them, if you know a fascist you can understand what they do to them.
Yes, it has been more than 30 years that we people of Iran are struggling against mullahs, but they savagely kill, murder, torture and suppress our people and especially the main opposition. You can see what they do to Roxana Saberi, this is a person who is half Iranian and half American and the world would rise and every one would know that what happened to Roxana and that she has been imprisoned, but who is going to chant and convey the voice of our suppressed people in Iran who have been under religious fascist for 30 years, even the press agencies and even the reporters do not convey the voice of our people. Also the journalist in Iran can not give coverage to the reality that is going on in IRAN, because they immediately will be imprisoned.
But what is the reaction of all the European counties and U.S. ? THEY JUST THINK ABOUT THEIR ECONOMICE BENEFIT AND GETTING MORE OIL… THEREFORE DO NOTHING AND CONTINUE THE APPEASMENT POLICY WITH THE MULLAHS, AND EVEN VERBALLY DON’T SUPPORT THE JUST RESISTANCE IN IRAN…..
I am sorry but I think you should talk with the Iranians who care about their country and their people and not just think about themselves I mean those facts that you mentioned above are just the minors and do not represent our people in IRAN. Hope you can pass my words to those who don’t know our just resistance and the situation of our suppressed people under mullahs’ religious fascist.
But we are not waiting that other countries come and overthrow these mullahs for us, we the people of Iran are able to overthrow them, but we ask other countries to stop this appeasement policy and let the people of Iran to take care of these mullahs and we know what to do with them.
In order to become more aware about the situation in IRAN, you can go to the following weblog to know the reality of my country. The address is:
http://studentscommittee.blogfa.com/
Nasrin; all you said is understood. I think if EU and US stop appeasing the regime and trading business with them; the people of Iran will be able to overthrow the mullahs, yes.
But there is also Russia who is now the prominent ally and instructor for the curent faction of Khamenei and Nejad. EU rules over the European mullahs and civilians in the givernment like Khatami, Rafsanjani, Mohsen Rezaie(who just became a presidential candidate and is a “British Subject”), and others.
As for PMOI, of course I have heard about them, and let me say that I wish them well in trying to continue to stay in Iraq in Camp Ashraf. But I do not agree that they are the opposition group necessarily that should lead the next system in Iran. Although as any other political group they have the right to participate in the future democracy of Iran.
But for a secular democracy to take hold again in Iran, like it was beginning to in the early 50s, Dr. Mossadegh’s government has been and will always be the best model for a liberal scular democracy in Iran to follow–and no doubt– the same nationalistic secular democracy will again be revived in Iran in the future.
As for my sarcasm about noce jobs and Kish island trips, etc. You know it exists and that the affluent in Tehran and other major cities don’t give a hoot about toppling the regime so long as the regime “leaves them alone”, they divert their attentions to frivolous activities, nose jobs(even guys now), dance parties, sex orgies, drugs, etc. There is the blood of frivolous playfulness and “hell with everything-ness” flowing in every rich Iranian’s veins. And that, although you say it may be the minority, is still sad in this mess that Iran is in.
She was released. Certainly US & International pressure was a factor. So whatever Obama & Europe did worked….so much for the notion that Obama must turn into a mouthfoamer over things….his normal, cool under pressure approach worked.
XiNuud sweet template