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I think it makes us look weak and groveling. Why is Obama praising Iran when they are on the state sponsored terror list? Makes no sense. Some of the follow-up comments from Iran seem disturbing:
Iran demands change in US policy:
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he had seen no change in America's attitude or policy, singling out US support for Israel and sanctions against Iran.
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran would welcome talks with the U.S. _ but only if there was mutual respect. Iranian officials have said that means the U.S. needs to stop accusing Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism, charges Tehran has denied.
I think it makes us look weak and groveling. Why is Obama praising Iran when they are on the state sponsored terror list? Makes no sense. Some of the follow-up comments from Iran seem disturbing:
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran would welcome talks with the U.S. _ but only if there was mutual respect. Iranian officials have said that means the U.S. needs to stop accusing Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism, charges Tehran has denied.
But maybe a different path to the one we have been taking is needed....what do others think?
Does Iran sponsor terrorism?
In March 2006, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “Iran has been the country that has been in many ways a kind of central banker for terrorism in important regions like Lebanon through Hezbollah in the Middle East, in the Palestinian Territories, and we have deep concerns about what Iran is doing in the south of Iraq.”
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell told CFR.org in June 2007 there is “overwhelming evidence” that Iran supports terrorists in Iraq and “compelling” evidence that it does the same in Afghanistan.
For these reasons, news reports in August 2007 cited U.S. officials as saying that the United States would consider adding Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in helping attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
London, Feb. 27 – Iran Focus has obtained a list of 20 terrorist camps and centers run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The names and details of the training centers were provided by a defector from the IRGC, who has recently left Iran and now lives in hiding in a neighboring country. Iran Focus agreed to keep his identity secret for obvious security reasons.
The former IRGC officer said the camps and the training centers were under the control of the IRGC’s elite Qods Force, the extra-territorial arm of the Revolutionary Guards.
“The Qods Force has an extensive network that uses the facilities of Iranian embassies or cultural and economic missions or a number of religious institutions such as the Islamic Communications and Culture Organization to recruit radical Islamists in Muslim countries or among the Muslims living in the West.
Benjamin Netanyahu warns against a nuclear Iran sheltering terrorist regimes
"I don't think Israel can accept an Iranian terror base next to its major cities any more than the United States could accept an al Qaeda base next to New York City." "If we accept the notion that terrorists will have immunity because as they fire on civilians they hide behind civilians, then this tactic will be legitimized and the terrorists will have their greatest victory." "We grieve for every child, for every innocent civilian that's killed either on our side or on the Palestinian side. The terrorists celebrate such suffering, on our side because they openly say they want to kill us, all of us, and on the Palestinian side because it helps them foster this false symmetry, which is contrary to common decency and international law."
He describes Iran as the "mother regime" of terrorists groups throughout the region and warns against the danger of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons:
"The arming of Iran with nuclear weapons may portend an irreversible process, because these regimes assume a kind of immortality... [This] will pose an existential threat to Israel directly, but also could give a nuclear umbrella to these terrorist bases."
Iran's Khamenei pretty much gave Obama the back of his hand:
Iran's most powerful figure today dismissed President Obama's extraordinary Persian New Year gesture, insisting that the U.S. administration's actions must match its rhetoric before Iran would alter its foreign policy stances.
"For you to say that we will both talk to Iran and simultaneously exert pressure on her, both threats and appeasement, our nation hates this approach," he said.
He urged Obama to get his words translated, but suggested he not use "Zionist" translators, drawing laughter from the audience.
Iran's Khamenei rebuffs Obama overture - Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-iran-obama-22-2009mar22,0,2638783.story - broken link)
Kind of goes back to what McCain said during the election, you just can't go and say I'm going to open up dialog and discussions without having a comprehensive strategy. To simply go out and give brief presentations, well he now has put himself in a somewhat awkward position.
Obama can ignore Khamenei's comments, which kind of puts him back in the Bush position except he now looks like he has been successfully chastised by Khamenei. He can rebut Khamenei, and hope that doesn't turn into an escalation in a war of words. Or, he can say you are right, we need to change, and now puts himself in the position of being a puppet dancing to Khamenei's music.
Perhaps he thinks Khamenei will go public and say he has reconsidered his comments, and sees the error in his ways. I don't see this as being very likely.
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