Obama is reaching out to the "Islamic Republic of Iran." Iran's clerical leader, the real power in Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, says their religion forbids nuclear weapons. Obama, by speaking to "the Islamic Republic of Iran," seems to be inviting the mullahs to practice what they preach. I am sure that many Israelis are hoping there is time for Obama's diplomacy to work.
On the other hand, remember how Ronald Reagan dealt with one of the main terrorists of his day, Libya's Colonel Khadafyi? That's right, a missile one day landed in one of Khadafyi's bedrooms, and we haven't heard much from the good colonel since then! Surely if we could do that in the eighties, we must have the capability to be even more precise in 2009...perhaps in the bathroom?
Bret Stephens points out in Tuesday's WSJ that there are bloggers in Iran who actually are practicing the ideals of liberty that America stands for. He adds, "A presidency predicated on the view that our values are our strength should not forsake those values for diplomatic expediency, much less betray our friends abroad who live, and have died, by those values."
I respected President Bush for bypassing the Islamic thugs and speaking directly to the Iranian people, expressing solidarity with their desire for freedom.
1 comment:
It's tough a road. I'm not sure how you get along with someone who doesn't even want to get along. I thought Bush's way was better but then I thought Bush was a great president.
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