Obama can rally 100,000. Nothing new for him. Give apology speeches around the globe. Dictate to Israel but hedge to his Islam and holy Koran. What's new? The Middle East has rarely tolerated weakness in leaders- they talk strength- even bluffing- and carry a heavy club.
On Jun 17, 7:47 am, "d.b.baker" <[email protected]> wrote: > If necessary, Obama will back down from a cadaver - any cadaver: > > [Q] - Obama’s interview with John Harwood suggests Obama doesn’t > really care who wins in Iran — so long as his precious engagement > strategy isn’t disrupted. Here is the relevant exchange [via NYT]: > > HARWOOD: Couple things, quickly, before we run out of time. You > took your time reacting to the protests in Iran after the election. > What are you watching for in the handling of those protests and in the > investigation of the results to–and how will that influence the > dialogue that you seek to have with Iran? > > PRESIDENT OBAMA: 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." > > It is clear what’s up. All he wants to do is talk, so he can’t give > offense. Fine — he’ll deal with Ahmadinejad if the regime can crush > the protesters. He is an enabler now, a cheerleader against regime > change. Shameful. > --http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/70171 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
