Putting the President on Hold
Gosh, if only somebody had seen this coming — President Obama got rejected like the Math Club treasurer asking the head cheerleader out to the prom:
The Iranian leader’s rebuff on Saturday to President Barack Obama’s offer for dialogue was swift and sweeping: Words from Washington ring hollow without deep policy changes.
But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s response was more than just a dismissive slap at the outreach. It was a broad lesson in the mind-set of Iran’s all-powerful theocracy and how it will dictate the pace and tone of any new steps by Obama to chip away at their nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze.
[Snip]
“This is why this will be a very slow, very complicated process between Iran and the United States,” said Abdulla. “Even the theocracy can be pragmatic. When they feel it’s in the national interest to reach out to America, they will find a way.”
Shouldn’t that read, “if they feel…?” Iran’s interest is in expanding its influence in the Middle East (and, eventually, beyond). Our interest is to stop that from happening. Iran is showing strength. We’re showing weakness. Who’s best serving their own interests?
CORRECTED: I’d left out the link before.
This episode just illustrates how woefully naive the Democratic party is. For the last eight years Democrats have been insisting that military action was unnecessary because we could get whatever we wanted from other countries through “diplomacy”. But diplomacy is just another word for “asking”. We ask the Ayatollah to give up (among other things) his nuclear program: he says “no”. What now?
A competent administration would ask Iran to abandon its nuclear program while threatening (explicitly or implicitly) to destroy it if they refuse. Abandoning the program in exchange for some vague “guarantees” offers Iran a face-saving out. But since no one believes Obama would ever authorize force against Iran they have no reason to acquiesce. Obama isn’t asking, he is begging.
Not only that, but since Obama (and other Democrats) placed such a high premium on “diplomacy” during the campaign, he can’t just walk away, no matter how poorly he is treated. Iran can mistreat Obama however it wishes and he is totally impotent to stop them.
Star Witness,
I’m led to believe you think there was a competent administration in place for the past eight years. I even believe that that administration was perfectly capable of threatening military force against Iran. But what happened? Oh yeah, we got bogged down with Iraq and barely did anything in Pakistan while Iran got more powerful in Iraq and may or may not have gotten started on its nuclear programs which may or may not have been designed with weapons capability. Now that this incompetent boob is in office, he can destroy the program located exactly where? He can take out a reactor being built with Russian help? He can invade Iran? He can do the Bay of Pigs thing and send in who? He can let Israel do it for him? What? I don’t see many options that won’t piss off Russia, Iraq’s Shiites, Talibanistan to the East, or otherwise doesn’t block the flow of oil. And no, even if we Drill Baby Drill starting during the Carter Administration, we can’t get by without the Mideast oil.
Talking is smart since it costs nothing, doesn’t back us into any corner, and hasn’t done anything other than let Iran blow off some more bullshit steam. There’s no begging involved that wasn’t set up by eight years of a feckless Bush policy toward Iran. We either escalate the situation in a way that is almost certain to blow up in our face, or we talk. Ignoring Iran worked so well for Bush, didn’t it? We got what, exactly? The moral highground?
And we’re getting what we pay for, aren’t we?
McG –
It’s worse than that.
This overriding willingness to talk to people who have no desire, need or incentive to talk to us is costing us prestige in the world’s most volatile (and energy rich) region.
And prestige is hard to earn and easy to lose. What Obama is doing — so cheaply — is costing us dearly.
And after getting bitch-slapped the W. H. response was……………………..