Foreign Policy Idiots
A number of our inane right wing commenters last night decided to make the protests in Iran a partisan issue, and they began to attack President Obama for what they see is inaction regarding the events in Iran. I will have the President respond before I do:
Well, I think first of all, it’s important to understand that although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, that the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised. Either way, we were going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighborhood and is pursuing nuclear weapons. And so we’ve got long-term interests in having them not weaponize nuclear power and stop funding organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas. And that would be true whoever came out on top in this election.
The second thing that I think’s important to recognize is that the easiest way for reactionary forces inside Iran to crush reformers is to say it’s the US that is encouraging those reformers. So what I’ve said is, `Look, it’s up to the Iranian people to make a decision. We are not meddling.’ And, you know, ultimately the question that the leadership in Iran has to answer is their own credibility in the eyes of the Iranian people. And when you’ve got 100,000 people who are out on the streets peacefully protesting, and they’re having to be scattered through violence and gunshots, what that tells me is the Iranian people are not convinced of the legitimacy of the election. And my hope is that the regime responds not with violence, but with a recognition that the universal principles of peaceful expression and democracy are ones that should be affirmed. Am I optimistic that that will happen? You know, I take a wait-and-see approach. Either way, it’s important for the United States to engage in the tough diplomacy around those permanent security concerns that we have–nuclear weapons, funding of terrorism. That’s not going to go away, and I think it’s important for us to make sure that we’ve reached out.
The President is not alone in thinking that US intervention or a declaration of explicit support for the protestors will do more harm than good. Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Dick Lugar:
But the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee thinks the Obama administration’s arms-length stance is just right.
“I think for the moment our position is to allow the Iranians to work out their situation,” said Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. “When popular revolutions occur, they come right from the people.” He said he did not think it would be wise for the United States “to become heavily involved in the election at this point.”
Another GOP Illumnati, and permanent resident of the MSNBC Green Room, Pat Buchanan:
When your adversary is making a fool of himself, get out of the way. That is a rule of politics Lyndon Johnson once put into the most pungent of terms. U.S. fulminations will change nothing in Tehran. But they would enable the regime to divert attention to U.S. meddling in Iran’s affairs and portray the candidate robbed in this election, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, as a poodle of the Americans.
Finally, former Bush administration State Department spokesman Nick Burns:
“President Ahmadinejad would like nothing better than to see aggressive statements, a series of statements, from the United States which try to put the US at the center of this, and I think President Obama is avoiding that, quietly rightly.”
So when there is widespread, bipartisan agreement that if the US does get overtly involved in this Revolution, the only thing that will happen is that the Revolution will be crushed by Ahmadinejad and the radical conservatives in Iran, it begs the question:
Why does GRex, Rhymes with Right and others like them want President Ahmadinejad to win? Are their neocon wet dreams of war with Iran so important to them that they would crush a people powered rebellion just to see it happen?
But hey, you can oppose President Obama on his foreign policy all you want, and I will not call you anti-American. But I will call you anti-Iranian. A year ago, it was fashionable in neocon circles to sing about bombing Iran. Maybe these foreign policy idiots have not caught up to the new reality yet: that not all Iranians are evil. In fact, most of them aren’t.
Tags: Iran, Neocons, President Obama
The President did indeed fail. His speech in Cairo was pure theater and his video at the New year to Iran was promptly thrown away.
The President refused to side with a few simple concepts, Freedom and Liberty.
Your boast any revolution backed by the US will be crushed is silly. A real revolution with moral support fron the US will rally the Iranians not doom their cause. I think you forget the 1979 revolution when another foreign policy failure named Carter failed the U S.
By the way, there will be bombs flying soon over Iran and they will come from a location about 2,000 km west.
Mike Protack
When smarter people reflect on an issue rather than making a knee jerk reactiopn they regret it’s usually a better choice. Obama throwing even tacit support to the reformers, protesters and/or Mousavi would be a HUGE win for Ahmadinejad. All he need is to paint the “reformers” as western imperialist infidels and he’s strengthened a weak positions.
Are you listening RWR?
By the way, I watched some of Iran v. South Korea this morning. World Cup qualifier live… Iran got an early 2nd half goal… Persians up 1:nil. This result will qualify them for 2010 World Cup. You may think this is insignificant… you’d be very, very wrong. 70th minute in Seoul. 20 more minutes.
Protack – Go fuck yourself you piece of shit. Your comment is nonsense as usual. At least you are consistent.
Relax Dorian. Mike Protack is a childish neocon. His record of failure in just the last eight years is legion. Protack’s words speak for themselves: He wants Ahmadinajed to crush the revolution, so his bombs can drop from 2,000 km away. He is a radical conservatives supporting a radical conservative.
My apologies. Normally I hardly notice the foolishness. It just got to me this morning for some reason. More passion about this issue I guess, I don’t know. I still fucking loathe that guy though. Really.
Less than 10 minutes remaining in Seoul. Still 1:nil Iran. I hope this holds. A bad results will make tempers flare in an already white hot situation.
Yes, the neocons do want Ahmadinejad to win. Some have even written that. They want Ahmadinejad to win because he’s easier to demonize. An attack on Iran is much less likely if someone seen as a reformer (like Mousavi) is Iran’s president.
I can’t believe a soccer game is actually going to affect this, but I heard that if Iran loses, both sides will become angrier and perhaps more violent, and if they win, perhaps it will give momentum to the protests. It is kinda hard to figure that.
Damn – Park Ji-Sung equalized in the 82′. Fucking Manchester United even haunts me during the summer. (This Korean dude plays club football at ManU.) 1:1.
Don’t know if a draw eliminates Iran or not.
DD – Not hard at all. Think of the Super Bowl. Multiply by 50. Add nationalism and raise to the power of 5 days of riots. Football explains most of the world’s politics anyway.
Oh yeah, a soccer game will have effect – especially a World Cup qualifier game. When Italy won the cup Rome came to a standstill during the game and then exploded into a citywide party that went on for days.
If Iran qualifies not only will there be national pride, but the tone will change.
A diary on Daily Kos shows that a picture of the Ahmadinejad rally was photoshopped to make the crowd look bigger.
Referee just blew the full time whistle – 1:1. Just checked the table and Iran is still alive, barely. They are in a qualifying spot now (2nd in the group) but only 1 point ahead of the Saudis and North Korea. If they finish 3rd they play the 3rd place team from the other group in a playoff (probably Bahrain or Qatar). And that’s just for a chance to play in a play-in against the 3rd place team in the Oceania group to qualify for the finals in South Africa.
Got all that?! 🙂
I got it, DG!