Negotiating With Iran
OttO on Aug 21 2008 at 8:44 pm | Filed under: Jihad Watch, Uncategorized, War On The War On Terror
The question John McCain asked in response to Barack Obama’s position on dealing with threats to America was to inquire as to what exactly Obama would like to talk about with people who have sworn genocide against a key US ally and “death to America”. The question, of course, remains unanswered.
The difference between the Obama approach to talks and the Bush Administration is clear: while the Bush Administration is obviously wary of a military conflict with Iran, they make it clear that the option remains “on the table” and realistically, may need to be implemented; whereas Obama’s rhetoric is big on friendly talk, but with the exception of some filler words here and there, tough military talk is all but absent. Bush understands the concept of ‘carrot and stick’; Obama simply wants to hand out carrots.
So what of the question posed by Senator McCain? Some low-key events have taken place in Iran in the past couple of weeks which makes his question even more poignant.
An Iranian vice president (and extended family member of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) made a surprising statement in a recent speech. Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, the Vice President of Tourism, said, “we are a friend of all people in the world, even Israelis and Americans.”
Wonderful, isn’t it? Not so fast.
The reaction of the Iranian parliament was swift if not predictable. 200 members (out of 290) declared the comments “unforgivable” and have demanded Mashai’s resignation. Thus far, the VP has refused to resign and to the best of my knowledge, has not repudiated the comments. Second to being openly homosexual in Tehran, Mashai has shown near unprecedented courage and Israeli and Western politicians and pundits should be supporting this kind of display.
Mashai has stood by his stance, adding, “I have said before that we do not have any hostility against the Israeli people and I still say the same thing proudly.”
Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi has questioned how someone who “think(s) like that be one of the president’s colleagues?”
And as for Ahmy? The president has tried to Obama his way out of this by not directly engaging the controversy, but he did add his own two cents, repeating some rhetoric he issued back in June, declaring Israel the “germ of corruption” that will “be removed soon” (updating it from the previous statement that the “germ of corruption will be wiped off the face of the world”.
Now I realize that there are no such things as defenders of Ahmadinejad and Iran in the good ol’ USA. Ahmy is simply a “rational actor” playing his part on the world stage. These Americans who don’t exist made heartfelt attempts to explain away Ahmy’s previous comments about wiping Israel off the map. I can’t locate a transcript of this latest Ahmadinejad rant (it’s supposedly on his presidential website) but I’m curious as to what positives and excuses we can extrapolate from this last verbal assault on Israel.
Americans generally seem to agree that the Iranian people are not the problem, that it’s the government. Should we assume that the Iranian people support Vice President Mashai’s friendly chatter and reject Ahmy’s genocidal ravings?
There has been talk lately that President Bush plans to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat before he leaves office. As the days go by this become more unlikely so the real question, 73 days before the elections, has been asked already. If this country makes the grave mistake of putting Barack Obama in the Oval Office, what exactly do we talk to the Iranian regime about? Would Obama’s desire to chat with the Iranian president include talking to Vice President Mashai (assuming he’s not with Allah by then)? Or will Obama feed into the Jimmy-Carter Democratic stereotype that America should only buddy-up with the worst people in the world (has Ahmy ever made Keith Olbermann’s list?)?
With the sudden push by Russia to resume Cold War positions in the world and talks of Russia and Iran strengthening ties, this isn’t the time to make a feel-good vote come November. If Barack Obama wants to have a chance of becoming president next year (and each time he speaks his chances seem to less likely) then he needs to redesign his approach to Iran, Islamofascist terrorism and the potential Russian/Iranian pact. This is his time to stop pandering, stop playing campaign games and start reassuring the American people that his administration will not be batted around, that his election will not be sought by our enemies.
Kathleen Parker recently wrote a column of hypothetical letters to Vladimir Putin. The first by George Bush was about four paragraphs long and emphasized Bush’s buddy approach to Putin (”What’s up with Georgia? This is not good, Vlad.”). The second by Barack Obama was four to five paragraphs long and touched on Obama’s apparent desire to avoid confrontation (”Please picture me looking very serious when I say that I respectfully request you to calm down.”)
The third letter simply said:
From Sen. John McCain:
Hey, Putin.
Don’t make me come over there.
McCain
That’s what America needs in 2008, whether in dealing with Russia or Iran. Or both simultaneously.
