I'M IN TEARS....

[Playinghardball]

Negar Mortazavi @NegarMortazavi

I'M IN TEARS....
Is the message I'm getting from young Iranians across the world, from Tokyo to Tehran to Geneva to Seattle.
#IranTalks

6:40 PM - 23 Nov 2013

http://theobamadiary.com/

Do you think that they're overjoyed?

[JaneyVee]

1. They must like that we have a prez who doesn't refer to them as an " axis of evil"

[Octafish]

24. + Infinity

Which is what each human life represents.

[Whisp]

37. +++

[Laelth]

2. I suspect they are.

Sanctions have taken their toll on Iran, and they are rightly worried about what this map shows.



If my country was nearly surrounded by military bases of the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, I'd welcome peace too.

-Laelth

[calimary]

14. Wow! GREAT map, Laelth!

Where'd you find it?

[Laelth]

33. I've looked back, and I can't figure out where the map came from.

I first used it in a post on June 16 of this year, here. I must have seen it (probably on DU) around that time. Sorry I can't be more helpful.



-Laelth

[csziggy]

34. Could have found it here?

http://www.juancole.com/2011/12/iran-has-us-surrounded-all-right.html

Or http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/?q=node/10602

[Voice for Peace]

15. holy crap. totally surrounded. ffs.

[Heather MC]

3. I am in tears as well

I have two boys 11 and 8. And if we stayed on the Republican endless war track, there is a chance one or both of my young men, would be sucked into the war machine.

I am in tears for all the future lives President Obama has Saved.

[Cirque du So-What]

4. Iran would have been the tipping point

As bad as the invasion of Iraq was, military attacks against Iran would have several orders of magnitude worse. 'Biting off more than we could chew' doesn't even begin to describe the bloodbath that war with Iran would entail. Out of necessity, there would also have been a draft.

[LuvNewcastle]

6. I've told several people who were hawkish on Iran that we'd need to have a draft if we

go to war over there. Every one of them decided that maybe war with Iran wasn't such a good idea after all.

[calimary]

12. If they're hawks, then do THEY plan to suit up and go over there themselves?

I'm telling any such folks I run across - "okay fine, then. YOU FIRST!"

[Enthusiast]

20. We are only experiencing a temporary delay in endless war track.

This condition will be remedied as soon as possible. I wish I was kidding.

[demwing]

31. I wish you were kidding as well

No seriously, you should try kidding sometime

[LuvNewcastle]

5. I don't know when we've had a better Democratic administration regarding

foreign policy. Traditionally, Republicans have a better reputation on foreign policy and Democrats have traditionally been considered strong on domestic policy. Obama's administration has been much more successful overseas than at home. I think the credit should go to Obama himself for the success in foreign policy. The last several years have been treacherous in the Middle East, but he's navigated through it expertly without starting another war over there. Well done!

[flamingdem]

10. So true! nt

[gulliver]

16. Republicans can't obstruct foreign policy.

If there had been no Republicans left in power after they crashed the economy, the country's domestic situation would be vastly better now.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

21. I was thinking the exact same thing.

Exactly. No pukes to sabotage his foreign dealings.

[awoke_in_2003]

22. Maybe Carter with the Camp David accords? nt

[mountain grammy]

26. Gee, ya think?

Exactly what came to my mind when I read that post.

[awoke_in_2003]

29. We have been looking for ways...

to get into wars my whole life. I have said it a few times today, and probably sound like a broken record, but the change is refreshing.

[mountain grammy]

25. Republicans may "have a better reputation on foreign policy"

but in the last administration it was dismal, and, with the likes of McCain and Graham, has remained so. Republicans have become more beholden to the MIC than even Democrats.
Republican foreign policy is endless war and shoot first.. just like their shit domestic policy.

Fuck Republicans and their "reputation on foreign policy." It's all a myth.

[Beacool]

7. Well, there would have been no deal if Rouhani hadn't thrown the first volley.

He deserves as many kudos as the international community for reaching this deal. It would have never happened under Ahmadinejad.

Good job by all.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. You're right, he did reach out and he deserves credit for that, too.

[Beacool]

9. He deserves a lot of credit.

There would have no deal at all if he hadn't approached the US and Europe proposing a rapprochement. It takes two to tango and Rouhani started the whole process, he did the opposite of Ahmadinejad. Pity that he only got into office this August, maybe a lot more would have been accomplished if Ahmadinejad hadn't been in power.

[gulliver]

17. The rest of the world, including the U.S., gets a lot of credit for Rouhani.

By sticking to our principles and hanging tight on the sanctions, by not bombing and making ourselves look evil we made it possible for a Rouhani to come to power. It's not a vacuum.

[Beacool]

35. I agree.

The US may have laid the groundwork, but if Ahmadinejad had remained in power all would have been for not.

[calimary]

13. This is a HUGELY important point to keep in mind!!!

I think about this particular dynamic every time I hear somebody rhapsodizing about how reagan saved the world and reagan brought down the Berlin Wall and reagan ended Communism and reagan ended the Soviet Union.

Well... not so fast. reagan could not have done ANYTHING OF THE SORT, were it not for some guy named Gorbachev on the other end. Were it not for some dude named John Paul II drilling holes in the underpinnings all over the Eastern Bloc. Were it not for some guy named Lech Walesa softening up the ground in Poland. If THOSE players had not been in place, none of the rest of it would have happened. I liken it to a sports team. If all you have is a strong pitcher, you're not apt to win the baseball game. You need a great catcher, a great first baseman, solid coverage on the other bases and in the outfield, and some reliable power hitters. I give a HUGE amount of credit to Mikhail Gorbachev. If reagan had been stuck with Brezhnev or Chernyenko or more of the "old guard" in the Kremlin to deal with, and not Gorbachev - with his different world view and his feet firmly planted in the modern era and reality, who started opening the windows in that stale Moscow power center and letting the fresh air in - NOTHING would have happened.

[Beacool]

36. I credit the Russians for ending Soviet rule, not Reagan.

If the Russians and Gorbachev hadn't been receptive to change, it wouldn't have happened. A nation changes from within, outside forces may influence change, but it cannot determine it without the participants being willing to enact said change.

I give the majority of the credit to Gorbachev and Rouhani for the changes they forged in their respective countries. One word of caution though, the deal with Iran is an initial step, but it remains to be seen if they follow though with their promises.

[liberal_at_heart]

18. Good point. Under Ahmadinejad our administration was willing to go to war if they had ever completed

their nuclear program. Like you said, good job by all.

[Whisp]

27. I see what you done there.

Do you think the word 'obliterate' would have been useful in these negotiations?

I wonder what the world thinks now about when Hillary said Obama was irresponsible and naive when he said he would talk to Iran back in 08 primaries - that diplomacy was the best choice.

[libodem]

11. If there is a God

This glorifies her. This is how evolved 21 century creatures resolve problems. Amen.

[SoCalDem]

19. There are MANY in Iran (amd the ex-pats) who remember when Iran was NOT

the way it is now.

In the late 60's/early '70s there were actually "fly-drive Holy Land tours".

You would fly into Beirut, pick up your car. and drive all over the place.. Tehran, Bethlehem, Haifa, Baghdad, Cairo. Our travel agency had MANY older people (they could afford it) who loved this travel.

They NEVER felt unsafe...and would happily spend 3 weeks wandering around...

There were ski resorts in Iran, which was a very different place then.

It will never be what it once was, (for a short time) but we ban surely hope for "better"..

[JNelson6563]

23. So nice to read a thread on DU

where I agree with all the comments! You all said it very well and Playinghardball, excellent snag from the Obama Diary!



Julie

[Blue Owl]

28. The grown-ups are back in charge

[mountain grammy]

30. For the first time since the Camp David accords, I have hope fort the middle east...

Even the Israeli military was supporting these talks, opposing Netanyahu

http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-military-goes-off-message-iran-nuclear-talks-191858213.html

[ananda]

32. Yes, crying for joy!

Peace on earth, good will to all!