Obama's Message to Iran

[el_bryanto]

From Glenn Greenwald's blog over at Salon --> http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/20/iran/

It's true that, ultimately, this will only be meaningful if followed up by action, but this video -- sent by Obama to Iran, and to Iranians, for Nowruz, a major national holiday, and released this morning -- is, after 30 years of nothing but threats and hateful rhetoric exchanged between the two countries, a palpably different message not only in tone but also in content.

It's easy to dismiss and mock if that's what one really wants to do. And the caveats and causes for skepticism are obvious (it's just a video; there was nothing done about the war in Gaza; he just signed this last week, etc. etc.). But it's inconceivable that anything like this video would have been possible at any point during the last eight years or even the couple of decades prior to that. The protests that the video will inevitably provoke by itself demonstrates that it is a political risk. Genuine expressions of respect, symbolic though they might be, can transform relations between previously hostile people and countries. Politically-motivated demonization (of the U.S. by Iranian hard-liners and of Iran by American and Israeli hard-liners) becomes more difficult when this is the tone that prevails and this is the face that is shown. And rapprochement, if it's to happen, can only begin with steps like this.

We live in interesting times. Prepare for the Right Wing to go even crazier.

Bryant

[rolltideroll]

1. K &R

Good article. Personally I think the place is a repressive hell hole that is in need of new leadership, but the same is more true of N. Korea and especially the Sudan.

[DCKit]

2. Definitely, but what did "our" previous stance gain U.S., aside from growing animosity?

A $500 trillion military budget is going to make less and less sense as we begin to relate to other countries as "other peoples" with whom we have much in common and not "Teh Bogeyman" that has ensured the insane funding of the military industrial complex for so long.

The grown-ups are in charge now.

[rolltideroll]

4. Nah, I agree with you

I am a vet, but I see the truth in what you say. I guess that I trust Obama enough to use the force we have in a way that advances human rights. Step 1 is getting a missile defense shield and getting rid of those animals in N. Korea, then getting off oil and letting the Saudi regime fade away.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Change In Action

Our military involvement in that region won't end until this country talks to all parties in the region. The sabre rattling led to prolonging this fiasco and helped spread hate and intolerance. By pretending to be the "strong man", boooosh made this country weaker on so many different levels...and with the totally inept Rice at State, our foreign service was all but non-existant.

This is a very welcome step in creating a working environment where negotiations can lead to diminishing tensions and leading to the ultimate goal of bringing all our troops home safely.

Those who condmen this need to be condemned for the war mongers and profiteers they are.

[BurtWorm]

5. What he said:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/Nowruz/



So in this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders. We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.

You, too, have a choice. The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right — but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization. And the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create.