Iran says President Obama sent them a “secret letter” asking for direct talks. The Associated Press quoted the semiofficial Fars News Agency as saying Wednesday: “The letter also said that closing the Strait of Hormuz is (Washington’s) red line. … The first part of the letter contains threats and the second part contains an offer for dialogue.” The AP says “Obama administration officials denied there was such a letter.”
But Fox News says “Obama administration officials would not confirm whether President Obama called for direct talks with Iran, after an Iranian lawmaker claimed Wednesday that the president floated the proposal in a secret letter to the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.” It cryptically added, “The White House acknowledged the letter and reiterated that the door remains open for Iran to return to international talks over its nuclear program.”
Whether or not the letter was actually sent, officials said that the diplomatic door remained open to Iran. But it is significant that Iran chose to allege the existence of the letter while the Obama administration was at pains to downplay it. The message that Teheran seeks to send is that the administration is crawling on its belly to the ayatollahs. The question is whether it is.
One thing Washington may want to discuss is Iraq, where sectarian violence is up sharply. Another AP report says that “Iraq’s Shiite-dominated Cabinet suspended boycotting Sunni-backed ministers Tuesday, an official said, deepening a sectarian conflict of politics and violence that has raised fears of civil war in Iraq now that U.S. troops are gone.” Iraqi Shi’ite militias are claiming “victory” for causing the departure of U.S. forces.
Russia has said that it would oppose tighter sanctions on Iran, as Teheran warned Saudi Arabia not to increase its oil production to compensate for the loss of Iran’s output on the world market. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “told Israel’s parliament Monday that the current sanctions against Iran are not going to stop its nuclear program.”
That leaves the Obama administration at the Last Chance Salon, or its alcoholic equivalent, the Last Chance Saloon, to get things right. If Teheran has seen fit to mock the president’s secret initiatives — assuming they exist — by leaking it to the newspapers, it strongly suggests that they are still not interested in whatever President Obama has to offer. The diplomatic dance between Washington and Teheran now resembles La Danse Apache.
How much longer can it go on? And who gets to play the part of Alexis and who Dorrano?
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I saw this today via Lucianne, an Iranian women living in Houston, active in Iranian woman’s rights community, apparently assassinated, probably by a silenced hand gun from passenger side of her car:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087925/Molecular-scientist-Gelareh-Bagherzadeh-30-shot-dead.html
I wonder if administration expressed outrage in their letter over political killings inside the US?
If the Iranian government assassinates its critics on American soil, the lives of Iranian dignitaries and diplomats should no longer be considered sacrosanct on American soil.
The murder of Gelareh Bagherzadeh ought to be a cause for war against the Iranian government. The question is whether the US government will do anything about it.
They have direct evidence of Iranian government action in the killings of US troops in Iraq and did nothing. Why would this change things…..
A “slap in the face” from Iran, answered by a “kick in the teeth” to Canada, as Obama and the State Dept. turn down the Keystone XL oil pipeline. He must be really confident that Iran will give America a nice tickle now that she’s rolled over and exposed her tummy.
Russia also says fuggadabout a Duck of Death removal rinse and repeat with Baby Assad. No UN resolution authorizing it anyway. The President can always say he only needs NATO and to hell with Congress and the War Powers Act. The Kosovo precedent was truly terrible.
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-vows-block-western-intervention-syria-183440104.html
“I wonder if administration expressed outrage in their letter over political killings inside the US?”
Maybe it just some relatives doing what diversity calls for.
I assume there are secret letters all the time, what with our traditionally Arabist (take that, Iran!) state department, with of course Hildabeast at its head, or perhaps riding it naked and bareback.
Meanwhile, what about the non-secret Monroe Doctrine and Iranian involvement in Venezuela? Any secret letters sent to Senor Chavez?
And BTW, for those BCers who enjoy Angletonian speculation about sovok penetration of the U.S. government, the State Dept. official who announced the Keystone decision today was none other than former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow William Burns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC5KxexbDEM&feature=related
Unfortunately, due to copyright constraints, this clip is only available en Espanol.
1. steven b
Could be just an ordinary “honor” killing. Where are her parents?
Did Obama send a secret letter to the Iranians begging for further talks? Is Obama crawling on his belly to the Ayatollahs? To ask these question is to answer them. Yes he did and yes he is.
I sent a letter by the postman
Sent it off by registered mail
Put some first class stamps upon it
So it surely wouldn’t fail
To be delivered to the right guy
Somewhere deep inside Iran
Begging for an honest answer
If he feels he safely can
I would like to tell the world that
I would crawl on broken glass
To prevent a war between us
And I’d even kiss some ass
There is nothing worth the fighting
There is nothing worth the pain
They can have the nukes they cherish
For there’s nothing we can gain
From this silly confrontation
Over something quite so small
As the death of tiny Israel
They mean nothing after all
Just because they haven’t answered
And they laughed right up their sleeves
Doesn’t mean the letter’s foolish
I’m a man who still believes
That my charm and cool demeanor
Will prevail at very end
And if things do not turn out well
Another letter I will send
It’s true, she was on phone with her “boyfriend”, who merely heard a “thud”, before apparent sound of tires screeching away, which argues for silenced hand gun. And it was in Texas, so everyone walks around armed to the teeth. But I wonder why, if it was an “honor” killing, it was not more personal, you know, with a knife, machete, or better yet in keeping with tradition, stoning.
I know that post was a little o/t, but it sure seems as lots of STEM educated Iranians are dying under mysterious circumstances lately, and not all in Iran.
You bet he sent the letter. It’s all part of his “smart power” nonsense. The Iranians are probably laughing their butts off at Obama and are right now showing the letter to the Chinese. And what has all this “smart power” gotten him? Absolutely nothing from the Iranians, let alone the Russians and the Chinese. We have no respect in that part of the world because they know Obama will not do anything that would come close to starting a new war, hence no force will be used against Iran, especially just before an election. And if force is off the table, you lose in the Middle East.
Just can’t wait for November to come. Then we may be able to salvage what is left of our foreign policy (not that there is that much left to save).
Bad move to say anything now. Iran knows what assets we have where. That should be message enough
The US should not make petty moves.
Iran knows what asshats we have where
FIFY
Iran knows what asshats we have HERE
I think you’re misreading the “letter”… it’s not preparation for a “final showdown”, rather it’s a lifeline to the thug regime. The ayatollahs are in trouble, the sanctions are hurting them, their scientists are being killed, and it’s going to end badly for the thugs. All the saber rattling in the Straits of Hormuz, the arrest of the former marine as a spy, and likely the assassination in Houston all point to a regime that’s desperately trying to reassert control.
But they really don’t need to worry as Obama/Carter will step in to keep tyranny alive. You can always count on the Democratic Party to rally against freedom, liberty and prosperity in their drive to make the world a safer place for dictators. Negotiations will kill any hope that the Iranians have of freedom, so it’s a job well done by Obama/Carter to save another thug regime.
from Drudge:
Unethical (translation) it would not be in BHO’s interest to force Gingrich to drop out of the race so he can’t hang around long enough to keep the anti-Romney vote divided and prevent it from rallying around either Paul or Santorum. Romney is the dream plutocrat for Team Obama to run against. I’ve listened to the rhetoric being tested out already on the Thom Hartmann Show. But then again, Newt’s candidacy was always more about Newt than about him having any serious shot of winning.
@ 12 And no, U.S. policy is not disrespected in Moscow just because of Obama. They were laughing at G.W. Bush too for sending his Deputy Secretary Treasury to Moscow (and later Paulson too) to ask the Kremlins to keep buying U.S. Treasuries/Fannie Freddie debt while Cheney/McCain slapped Russia in the face with their little Georgian client state. But Fox News would never tell you about that bit because it’s too embarrassing to the Bushies/neocons to admit the U.S. is a debtor to Russia.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/china-brings-us-treasury-holdings-one-year-low-russia-cuts-holdings-50-one-year
Kremlins have now dumped half their USTs in past year
ChrisS @ 16 said:
“… they really don’t need to worry as Obama/Carter will step in to keep tyranny alive.”
I suspect Iran’s worst nightmare is that Obama would actively start trying to do things that he thought would benefit Iran.
Obama is way out of his depth. Either he is running around in circles exclaiming “What will I do? What will I do? or he is sitting smugly with his sycophants reminding him that he’s the fourth best US President who ever lived.
What an utter disgrace it is that we have Obama as our President! I am dismayed to think that our national shame will only increase after we reelect Obama. Can the situation get any worse? Stupid question…. Of course it can get worse and probably will…
Wretchard,
There’s some spam at 17 & 18 that require deleting. Time to update your spam filters.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/how-scared-is-fox-ctd-1.html
Ah…Fox RNC/Republican Establishment News versus the ever excitable, ‘which way is the wind blowing today’ Andrew Sullivan.
As the devilish arms dealer said to Nicholas Cage’s character in the movie Lord of War, what makes you think I don’t want them both to lose?
Even Sully’s endorsement of Ron Paul was half-assed and quickly withdrawn when some dude from the Atlantic pointed to a few objectionable lines from twenty year old newsletters that are nothing compared to the kind of spew I used to read at Frontpagemag and at other neocon-approved media sites.
EOT for me.
I saw that the Obomination was looking for a campaign theme. Now they have it;
“He walks, He talks, he crawls on his belly like a reptile!’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZJdMzkY_C4
Meanwhile, the new moon approaches. It’s also known as “the bombers moon”.
Slap Iran about a little and they will fold like a cheap lawn chair.
just got the news today that obummer is going to kill the new oil pileline from canada. people on the net are spitting fire. remember the gulf oil delays on permitting that even clinton said was crazy? enter phase II of squueeze ameriCa.
then i hear our afrikan is trying to play house with a bunch of the biggest liars on the planet. writing secret love letters? wonder what he is promising to give them? remember? he likes to give our security/$$$$ away to get stuff for his people.
however, this playing both ends against the middle could backfire. the ‘turbaned tanners from tehran’ ALWAYS do what they say. so, what if they see obummer won’t respond to their threats, and actually do something bad, and we can’t get ANY oil. china is now getting canadian oil, and gas goes to $$$ per gallon, (he did say it was necessary to implement his vision for amerika)and who doubts it won’t? if this crap comes down wrong, obummer couldn’t get elected dog catcher in november.
makes one wonder just what is in that secret letter, huh? personally, i believe he is agreeing to throw somebody under the bus, besides us.
4. Dr. Mabuse, 21. daveinga
There’s not much left to say about the Keystone rejection. As Dr Mabuse knows, up here in Canada we have other pipelines to work on and the Keystone probably will come back into play. Ironically, the more slaps and kicks that President Obama receives or gives will back him into corners – diplomatic and economic corners. I wonder if President Obama is the first President produced by the decades long progressive program to feminise males. I respectfully ask (because the office of President deserves great respect) is he the first feminised male President? Now a feminised male must be different from a real woman. Having two daughters who are real women and who are decisive and independent, I think that a real woman President would be be a better choice.
Give Obama one point for consistency. He sure is no flip flopper. He said that he would talk to the Iranians and, come hell or high water and whether they want to talk or not, talk he will. Eventually I would expect the IRG/Hezbollah in Mexico to start launching drones against the US. We can expect the NY Times and assorted chin pullers to point out that we have it coming. That may end when a nuclear device goes off in NY harbor.
Who knew that we would get to dig into a big tub of popcorn as the nukes go off in Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz and other cradles of civilization? My over/under on that event is September 1.
I wish it were otherwise. We are all going to pay a horrible price. Thanks, Hopey. Too bad you never had a clue, and never cared to get one.
The only person I ever want crawling on his belly toward the ayatollahs is a sniper.
One reason for the general shape shifting around these parts is that the debates on Monday produced a clear winner in Gingrich. The momentum now is on his side. If he has another clear win on Thursday–the likelihood shifts to a Gingrich win in South Carolina. If that happens –the race for the republican nomination will not be over virtually before it gets underway. That is, Romney loses the benefit of the inevitability factor
Obama nixing the pipeline was just another fist-bump to his brother from another mother, Chavez.
One of the many things that amuses me about the anti-pipeline screwballs is that they act like the United States is somehow this pristine landscape devoid of all pipelines. Yet they are all over the place. This is a great site for seeing pipeline maps:
http://www.theodora.com/pipelines/united_states_pipelines.html
To jump right to the picture:
http://www.theodora.com/pipelines/united_states_pipelines_map.jpg
One dingbat on the local radio news said that if the pipeline should leak “thousands of farmers” would be destroyed. Uh huh.
How do you deal with such abject idiocy?
(Natural) Gas prices are now 15% of the cost of oil on an equivalent BTU basis. So if you own one of the few natural gas cars around this means you are buying fuel at 60 cents a gallon.
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Goes-Down-In-Flames.html
Perhaps the best news is the new technologies are reducing costs in a big way. Investor stock trackers have noticed and estimates like the one from JPMorgan Chase projects drops from $2.5 million per well down to an astonishing $750,000 – a drop of 70% – money that will get reinvested in more drilling and production.
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/New-Fracking-Technology-To-Bring-Huge-Supplies-Of-Oil-And-Gas-To-The-Market.html
17. Viktor (not that Victor): “Their were laughing at G.W. Bush too….”
Russian triumphalism, Viktor? As if the Russian nation, and the Soviet empire before, had so many foreign and domestic policy achievements to crow about. Oh, well, let them have their joke. So little to laugh about in Russia these days … or for the past century.
And re: “… are nothing compared to the kind of spew I used to read at Frontpagemag and at other neocon-approved media sites.”
Let it go, lad. Just … let … it … go. Neocons are soooo last decade.
@2. Alexis
If the Iranian government assassinates its critics on American soil, the lives of Iranian dignitaries and diplomats should no longer be considered sacrosanct on American soil.
The murder … ought to be a cause for war against the Iranian government.”
First of all there have been no charges brought, let alone a conviction. But what the hell, who needs rule of law when we can form a posse and go after Iran and start a world war that will end up eliminating the few remaining freedoms in the US.
Oh, and please don’t forget that Obama has given the executive branch the power to have a death panel that has made a to-do list of future assassinations that will happen all over the world. These will be performed by drones controlled by the commander in chief in violation of other countries sovereign airspace. And this was before the NDAA which allows the Feds to lock up any “terrorist sympathizer” without trial. But don’t let that bother you, just chalk it up to that American exceptionalism that the rest of the world knows and loves so well.
“But what the hell, who needs rule of law when we can form a posse and go after Iran and start a world war that will end up eliminating the few remaining freedoms in the US.”
It is statements like that which make you surrender monkeys so amusing. You would think that someone using “who needs rule of law” and “eliminating the few remaining freedoms ” in the same sentence would have a clue. Then they go off on the march of the tin foil brigade, or maybe the flight of the Black drones, or was that helicopters?
I get confused, which I suppose is natural for a paleo-con. All I know is that Quitters NEVER win and winners NEVER quit. Anyone that wishes to stop fighting for America can. They just need to stand back. Give those of us that are still willing to fight for the idea of freedom a little room.
Anyone that hasn’t figured out yet that Iran is at war with the USA needs an IQ boost. Perhaps a geranium grafted to their brain stem.
Anyway, no one is suggesting a War against Iran. Just a bombing campaign. That might cause panic in a Paulbot’s heart, a trembling in the knees, a weakening of the bowels and a tingling running down one leg but it’s NOT a war.
Not all violence is a war and not all wars are violent.
That’s OK. Ron Paul can be as zany as he wants. I have him in my dead pool for 2012 and as long as he pays off, I’m good. ‘Golden” to quote the Blago.
It should be remembered that there are nemerous examples of an opposing power collasping like a rotten log. The North German Confederation in 1870, both the Confederates and the Federals in 1861, The Boers in the Second Boer War, all sides in 1914, the USSR in 1941, the USSR when the Japanese invaded Mongolia in the late 1930′s, the United States after Pearl Harbor, the American intervention in Viet Nam and the Chinese invasion of Viet Nam are all examples of misplaced optomism. If we do attack Iran ( and I am NOT suggesting that we should, I lack both the knowlege and the training to make that call ) I believe we should go in hard, destroying communication, command structure, transportation networks, military installations, powerstations, and especially their oil refineries and accept that Iranian civilian casulties will be high. They will hate us no matter what we do but we need to make sure that they fear us. Whe had also better be prepaired for the diplomatic fallout because it will be great. I fail to see the administration taking the preparitory steps for this action but I could be mistaken and hope that I am.
The US needs to invest heavily in computer defense now. We need that much more than F-35s. At this point we are totally unprepared.
Stuxnet was just the beginning. Israel is now engaged in a massive cyber war aimed at financial markets which have hacked Israeli banks, credit markets, the Tel Aviv stock exchange and El Al. A group called ‘IDF Team’ launched counter attacks against banks in Gaza and UAE and threatened further retaliation if the attacks against Israeli sites do not stop.
Walt/10: excellent stuff, as always. I don’t know how you do it, but I am delighted that you do. Thanks.
Octa brigth/32: “They will hate us no matter what we do but we need to make sure that they fear us. ” Exactly. The Latin version is memorably compact: “Oderint dum metuant.” “Let them hate us, so long as they fear us.”
“The US needs to invest heavily in computer defense now. We need that much more than F-35s”
I humbly disagree. Yes, cyber attacks can and will harm business and the people connected with them. That is NOT a national threat. Cyber attacks will create a market for cyber defences. Private industry will do a much better job of dealing with that then the goobermint. F-35′s are a legitimate area of federal concern. The computers down at 1st Federal Bank are not.
What you Paulbots can’t seem to grasp is that physical defence against inimical nation/states is the Primary purpose of the federal goobermint. EVERYTHING else is best handled by the states and the citizens.
Yes, the MIC sucks. Throwing out the baby with the bath water isn’t the answer. The Answer is to nationalise Lockheed as a warning, then put ALL other military contracts on a cost plus basis. That way instead of the taxpayers forking over 2 million for a 86$US computer chip, they pay 95US$ for that chip.
Keep in mind that it is impossible to prevent cyber attacks. So the only option is to clean up after them as fast as possible. That requires a quick response. Not the phrase one thinks of first when somebody says ‘Government’.
35. stoicheion
Paulbot?
Jeez, do you ever have the wrong guy.
The mere fact that he is running as a republican has me on the verge of switching parties.
War hath no fury like an internet site full of non-combatants.
“The letter also said that closing the Strait of Hormuz is (Washington’s) red line. … ”
Interesting. Implied is that testing a nuclear weapon is not a red line?
@35. stoicheion
All I know is that Quitters NEVER win and winners NEVER quit. Anyone that wishes to stop fighting for America can. They just need to stand back. Give those of us that are still willing to fight for the idea of freedom a little room.
That is exactly what happened with Iraq, you got your room to fight for freedom. Bush and Petraeus put it all on the line and even gave you the surge. What a great job that was, 9 years of war, thousands of US military personnel dead or maimed, trillions down the toilet, soldiers kept from their families for years on end and for what? And then we have Afghanistan where all we have to show for that is a destabilized Pakistan. Or how about that bang-up job on Vietnam?
The truth is that although the military is the least malfunctioning Federal department it still has performed miserably over the decades. All those trillions gone and most of the world despises the US, and now Obama has politicized the military and made it a test bed for “social justice”. Whatever the military used to be, it is a completely different beast now with all the mercenaries like Xe, with all kinds of operations offshored and outsourced.
So you think that the US will drop a few bombs and presto, problem solved. No way that China, Russia or Iran could retaliate. Or that Saudi Arabia might run into internal revolt between Sunni and Shia. That kind of naive and unsound thinking is not only what got the US into quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan but also brought on Homeland Security, Patriot Act, NDAA, billion dollar bunker embassies, airport strip searches and trillion dollar deficits. Yes we do need a war in Iran so we can have more of all those great things.
Stoicheion, you are a member of the new praetorian guard, and IMO you and your type are a greater risk to the US than Al Queda.
39. ConfederateH
I have some sympathy for these views. Not agreement, but . . . . I am sympathetic. Certainly they need to be expressed. They deserve serious consideration. However, and FWIW, I am most firmly not a Paul supporter.
37. M. Mir
Funny! Not necessarily fair, but … funny.
Thanks Roughcoat. I don’t agree 100% with everything Ron Paul says. But one thing I realize is that between the institutional Dems and the Reps he will not be allowed to do anything unless he manages to convince a large majority of Americans to actively support whatever issue is at hand. That is unlikely with close to 50% dependent on the state.
Since he is a libertarian working outside of the institutionals, Ron Paul’s main effect would be to block their agendas. Ron Paul’s main weapons would be his veto, his dedication to the constitution, and his understanding of Austrian Economics. Anyone who expects Ron Paul to use the powers of the executive branch to over rule the legislative branch to force through changes have no understanding of what Ron Paul stands for.
This means that if the majority of the states want to have a war with Iran, then their senators and congressmen could declare it and Ron Paul would conduct that war to his best ability as long as the constitution was followed. This is as it should be. Congress enacts the laws, and Ron Paul would enforce them. Mitt Romney would be working behind the scenes to implement whatever policies his handlers told him was expected of him, and from 2014 he would only be about getting re-elected.
CH @39
I suspect there are a number of posters on BC that have had prior military service. In which branch of the service did you fulfill your military obligation to our country?
CH@39 and Deano-41
I served in the Army and Air force. My husband served in the Marines and Navy and is a retired Lt Cdr. My children, five of them, have all served. I have a close up view of what is going on in the military, and sadly, Ch@39 is right. They were the last bastion of patriotism in this brainwashed society, but even that has been socially engineered away.
I fear for the country that I love
But God and country, not just country, is what may save us, if He wills at this point.
Until then, we have a responsibility before Him and for the next generations to fight to keep America free, as late as the hour is.
Having said that, I don’t blame the military for the fiasco our wars have been. That blame belongs to our elitist and Godless social engineers.
@Deano: I served 2 weeks a year for 4 years in the Swiss Zivilschutz as an Übermittlungspioneer. I spent 3 years as a civilian Cobol computer programmer working for USACE in Frankfurt and a couple of years before that in Sacramento CA where I also spent some time working for the Airforce at McClellan AFB. Interestingly McClellan would be one of those AFB’s that Ron Paul says never would have had to be shut down if the US had concentrated on defense instead of empire.
@Joyron, I don’t blame the Military rank and file either, and up until recently I was very proud of them. I used to have an “I support our troops” bumper sticker and a US flag on the car I commuted to Zürich in. I haven’t flown a beautiful American flag I have over my home since Obama was elected, and I have considered flying it upside-down on July 4th. I do hold the upper echelons of the military, especially their revolving doors, responsible for allowing politics to enter the Military. I suspect it won’t be long until Obama tries to unionize them, and you can bet that most of the big brass will go along.
I support SOS PIAPS suggestion that firm Mini-Sanctions just might possibly be called for if the current Iranian Republic Twelver Leadership fails to respond to the |Secret Letter| within the prescribed time constraints as delineated in current UN/USSD/EU protocols.