Sunday, September 15, 2013

Obama's new penpal

Iran's President Hasan Rowhani

President Obama has exchanged letters with Iran's new president, Hasan Rouhani. Obama stressed that the US refraining from bombing Syria  was not to be viewed as reticence to use force, and that he felt Iran realizes this.
Speaking of Iran in light of the Syrian crisis, the president noted that for the U.S., preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East is a higher priority than ridding Syria of chemical weapons. And Iran's leaders should remember that, he said.
It has been the hope of some that a US president will 'go to Iran,' much as Nixon went to China. Iran is a proud country that may one day be a regional player, and the first steps begin with normalization of relations with the US, which have been off for nearly 35 years.

32 comments:

Michael Haz said...

The letters Hasan Rowhani exchanged with Barack Obama were "F" and "U".

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Out of all the criticism leveled at Putin for writing that devastatingly condescending NYT Op-ed... has anybody called Putin a racist?

Maybe I'm not following the dispute close enough.

edutcher said...

Agree with Young, they will play him and Lurch like a string quartet.

And, if he does go, he might get the same treatment as our last embassy there.

Icepick said...

I'm still of the opinion that we could avoid a lot of muss and fuss by selling the Iranians some surplus nukes of ours. They'd be 'cleaner' than anything the Iranians are likely to build, and we could tell them, very politely, that if those nukes are ever used for anything other than obvious self-defense, we will end them.

Hagar said...

I think Ahmadinejad‎ showed that the president of Iran is not the president of Iran.

I do not think negotiating with Iran is going to do much good as lang as the ayatollahs are in charge.

JAL said...

Iran has a lunatic factor.

That needs to be factored in.

The Dude said...

I always liked The Beach Boys - bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.

The Dude said...

I forgot two bombs. Just so long as the USAF doesn't.

rhhardin said...

It would be a mistake to hold Obama for ransom, just as a business matter.

Lydia said...

He sent the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a letter as well, back in 2009, but didn't advertise it much.

I guess the difference now is that he's got Putin to compete with for Iran's affections and so he's talking about it?

XRay said...

What puzzles me is the complete lack of support for Iran's 'green revolution' shown by this administration, compared to actions in Libya, Egypt, and now Syria. I suppose the calculus now is to get ahead of Putin in support of the new caliphate.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

"My view is that if you have both a credible threat of force, combined with a rigorous diplomatic effort that in fact, you can strike a deal."

IF... how do you translate bluff into Farci.

The Dude said...

Lem coins a new word that far exceeds the original. Well done!

sakredkow said...

I've never heard of anybody who wants a US president to go to Iran.

chickelit said...

phx said...
I've never heard of anybody who wants a US president to go to Iran.

He's now considered and oddball, but there was a US Senator who once did: link

chickelit said...

@Lem: I'm not so worried about his new penpal as much as his new paypal.

bagoh20 said...

"He's now considered an oddball,"

Ha, Good one.

Icepick said...

XRay makes an excellent observation at 9:12. Maybe Obama just appreciates a WELL-REGULATED democracy. You know, like Chicago.

AllenS said...

It's going to be a long three and a half years, people.

The Dude said...

And E. P. delivers a smack down. Well done.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

rigorous

When the word rigorous shows up, it's over.
Such twaddle.

deborah said...

YH, I don't know that much about the accretions of the Ayatollah's brand of Shia, but over all the treatment of women isn't as bad as in some Muslim countries. Women have the vote, and Wiki says:

"In Iran, where wearing the hijab is legally required, women, especially younger ones, have taken to wearing transparent and very loosely worn hijabs."

On the other hand, it can go both ways. After the Shia took over in Iraq, during the war, morality police would go about chopping off fingers for smoking and 'arrest'(?) women for dress violations.

In Sunni (Wahabbi) Saudia Arabia:

"Women were previously forbidden from voting or being elected to political office, but King Abdullah declared that women will be able to vote and run in the 2015 local elections, as well as be appointed to the Consultative Assembly.[5] Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving."

I think it was prudent for Obama to back off the Green Revolution in Iran, not least because Iran can shut down the Straits of Hormuz, and they'd be no push-over to fight. Discretion was the better part of valor in that case.

deborah said...

XRay, that part about the Green Revolution was supposed to be directed at you.

Excellent observations, Lydia, thanks.

ken in tx said...

Deborah is right about the Iranians not being push overs, in my opinion. Until the Iranian revolution, the US was an overseas assignment for the Iranian Air Force. They had students in many US Air Force training schools. They are not Arabs, they are Persians, and they are smart, and they don't cheat.

I had a class in Aircraft Maintenance Officer school with an Iranian Captain. He had the highest average in the class, unlike all the other foreign students who chattered throughout tests and assignments, he kept his mouth shut and did his own work.

He used to send me Christmas cards. I never heard from him after the revolution. I imagine he was executed.

Men such as he would be hard to defeat.

deborah said...

Ken, yes, Iran is noted for using the human wave attack during the Iran-Iraq war.

XRay said...

Yes, the Iran/Iraq war, which if memory serves turned out a tie. I wonder if Ken's Captain was involved.

I'm not quite sure what your examples above, transparent/loosely worn hijabs has to do with reality in a Muslim country. Of course 'the aurthorities' play off everything. If they can prevent a major uprising by relaxing dress standards then that is what they will do. They still win.

If our present administration was serious about ridding the world of dictators then Iran was a perfect target at the time of the 'green revolution'. It was 'critcal mass' for just a few days. We decided it wasn't worth it.

I no longer have hope that anything this country does is worth one life.

I could give many examples, but read up on Korea, and the odds, and the men involved.

deborah said...

X, you can't have it both ways. Foaming at the mouth Twelver Shi-ites and women making light of the hijab don't exactly mix. I think the Ayatollah is far more reasonable than you give him credit for.

XRay said...

Perhaps I'm not writing clearly enough to explain my point.

He's "reasonable" in the sense that he ultimately gets 98% of what he desires. Which is a Sharia compliant state theocracy.

deborah said...

That's why it's called an Islamic Republic.

When we first invaded Iraq (2003), Iran sent a message through the Swiss(?) ambassador, volunteering to invite inspectors and/or give up their nuclear program. Bush and co. declined to take them up on their offer.

At the beginning of the Afghanistan War, we had an arrangement with Iran that they would recover any of our pilots downed in their territory.

XRay said...

You're evading my basic point. :)

No matter technically, a republic, a rubber stamp parliment that adheres to the theocratic leader's (rump or not) mandates hardly threatens a theocractic hold on the country.

I'll stop now. :)

deborah said...

:)

Unknown said...

Great post. :) I remember having my own pen pal. =) Long before a 1300 number or modern communication gadgets are made, sending letters through snail mail is a hit.