POTUS Sends Special Video New Years Greeting to Iranians

POTUS? Oh, you mean TOTUS: “Teleprompter of the United States”. Let’s all hope that Obama had his trusty teleprompter, while fawning to the terrorists who make up Iran’s government. And, let’s all hope that the State Dept. flunkies found a neuron to use in order to check what they scripted for TOTUS. We don’t need any more screw ups from this bunch of clueless Ivy Leaguers. No “reset button” gaffes, or “Special Olympics” gaffes. O and crowd have already done enough damage with their collossal stupidity.

Shouldn’t the economy be The One’s number one focus? Not bowing to the Ayatollah or legitimizing Ahmadinejad?

This is a joke, right?
I have to stop being informed. It’s like a nightmare. This man is an idiot.
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Hmmm……. The right wing of the American Government and the Right Wing of the Iranian Government Thumping each others chest has gone a long way. Real progress has taken place with outstanding results over the last several years. I Just do not understand the need for something different.

word, words, words. All I hear is words. If not him (Mr. Obama), then from you (reporters). Show…. me….! From “My Fair Lady”.

To the people calling Obama an idot: Oh right, because he is reaching out and trying diplomacy, he is an idiot? Extending an olive branch is just smart. Bush couldn’t do it because it didn’t fit his narrow redneck cowboy image. If he had they wouldn’t have taken him seriously anyway. Obama is the President and as such has to multitask, something Bush was incapable of. Bush would have already been on vacation. Obama won and is popular, get over it. As for not reading the news anymore, just tune into FOX News, it is the same thing. Obviously looking at all sides of an issue isn’t your idea of smart. If your types were in office during the Cuban missle crisis, we would have nuked Russia and had full blown global thermonuclear war. Critical thinking skills by the Kennedy brothers saved us from that fate. Bush surely would have listened to the military advisors and launched. Buh bye Bush…good riddance.

just more appeasement of our enemy”s. All the while the Iranian pres sits there and says, “obama is weak” and he is right. Didn’t we try appeasement before 9/11? yep, and it always fails.

This is not the 0bama I thought I knew.

This will provide a nice opportunity to determine who’s sufficiently aware to realize that a ‘nation’ is not a single monolithic structure but actually has more than one component. Bypassing leaders and taking your case straight to the people can certainly be regarded as a good move. The people who fail to understand this will be revealing their own ignorance.

He has already basically turned his back on Israel regarding the Palestinian threat and the re-funding of Hamas… as has Billary…
He brings many woes to this nation !!!

Diplomacy? Yeah, right. This from the same D’Ohbama who gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a “gift” of 25 old DVD’s, in exchange for Brown’s profoundly thoughtful gift of (among other things) a hand carved wood pen made from the timbers of a ship called “The President” which played a role in US/UK relations.
The DVD “gift” is seen as an insult by both the British press, and people. Brown is being gracious about it, but today there are news reports that D’Ohbama gave Brown DVD’s that were regionized to the USA only, and when Brown attempted to play one in Britain the words “Wrong Region” flashed on and were all he got.
So if D’Oh and mob are that stupid with our closest ally, the UK; Lord help us all when this president-on-training-wheels attempts diplomacy with a terrorist nation who WANTS TO KILL US.

theregoesthecountry Poisted:
Obama doesn’t even understand who he’s talking to… (…or does he?) Unlike the shallow-faithed Americans these fanatics will stop at nothing to dominate the world with their faith… maybe Mr. sleeper Prez. is showing his true traitor-tinged colors…
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theregoesthecountry posted:
Mr Vaughn…. God cannot possibly bless one who tries to force Israel to give away that which was given to them by God himself… as a matter of fact they bring judgement and curses on themself…
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Hmmm……….

Hugo Chavez ragged on him before he even set foot in the White House. The Russians openly mocked his naiveté. Now he’s off to appease the Iranians. If this is a contest to see how many world leaders he can get to blow him off within his first 100 days, I’d say he’s right on track.

This man Obama need to stop embracing our enemies and discarding friends and he need to do that today. For those that support this nonsense from Obama let me be clear because I think he and his message is complete nonsense coming from a complete idiot. Have you gotten already what Iran did to our service men, they dragged their bodies thru the streets.

“that which you do to the least of my brother’s – you do unto me’ Jesus Christ

Isn’t it Great to have a guy with a Head on his shoulders leading this country. After 8 years of bush/cheney, it’s like going from the tee-ball league to the Majors. From the worst of all time to the Best in the Future.

Hugo Chavez ragged on him before he even set foot in the White House. The Russians openly mocked his naiveté. Now he’s off to appease the Iranians.
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Now why would they do that?

He gave the right message, the ancient message of peace. Let narrow-minded people ridicule it, let evil ones twist it. Real people got the message and real people want peace. War just benefits the deep pockets of the gun-makers and some evil, greedy politicians on both sides! Real families’ share will be tears. Hail to peace in the world and God bless you, Mr Obama!

Obama is so infantile and naive. He think that Iranian islamic zealots think like an auto worker in Detroit. His ability to give a speech will have no effect on them. The Iranians will take this as a sign of weakness to be exploited immediately. Having lived and worked in the Middle East, Obama’s behavior will have them planning how to take complete advantage of him because he has now lost all standing as a leader. Obama is just a fool.

whats more serios World War 3 – which Krauthamer is calling for – or joking about a speech impediment ? So sensitive

Newsflash: The cable news channels are reporting that Iran’s government issued a statement telling the world that no one will stop them from developing their nuclear program. Furthermore, the press asked an Iranian government spokesman if they saw the Obama video ‘greeting’. The spokesman said they didn’t pay any attention to it.
This is serious. Search Neville Chaimberlain. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Iran’s Leadership Ignores Obama Outreach, Says World Powers Cannot Block Nuclear Program. So Much for Obama video

Reality time. Yes, there is evil in the world.

Obama is a serial person that can’t handle two events simultaneously. He has the fiscal condition of this country so screwed up that he simply doesn’t have the time or aptitude to effectively deal with our enemies . . . ergo, pacify and pander to them. Furthermore, his only real objective is to completely transform this once great Republic into a Marxist utopia. Meanwhile his alter ego Pelosi is busy trashing the Constitution on his behalf. Unfortunately, those staunch defenders of the Constitution, the Republicans, are mimicking the three monkeys that see no evil; hear no evil; and speak no evil. In the common vernacular . . . we’re screwed.

Iran’s Leadership Ignores Obama Outreach, Says World Powers Cannot Block Nuclear Program. So Much for Obama video
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MY. MY did you really think one video would do the trick?
One day as President, one video, oh my what a failure.

Los Angeles has a very high percentage of Persian Jewish people- I think maybe the highest number of Persian Jews in the world.
It would have been a great idea while he was in LA to meet with some of them to talk to these Persian Americans before he sent a message to Iran.

To the knee-jerk reactionists who offer simple “Neville Chamberlin” rants should try to grasp the complexity of Iran and the world before you start typing your 5th-esque sentences. Iranians are set to go to the polls later this year, and this message will help push them towards the reformist candidates that advocate engagement. The benefits of Obama’s outreach will be longterm, as the Iranian people are ready to become part of the world community and engage with the west. Iran is not Na-zi Germany

The reason we can dismiss the big talk from the right-wing keyboard warriors in regards to more saber-rattling toward Iran is that we know from the conspicuous lack of long lines of them at the Army recruitment centers during the war they ‘supported’ in Iraq that if there is a war with Iran that they aren’t going to be the ones to go fight it.

Oh no, another Jimmy Carter!

Awwww…poor baby…all the Iranian leaders ignored his pretty little video…he’s just going to have to try harder next time

Oh, yeah yeah, go head and make fun of the disabled! I have several friends went to special olympic and they scored quiet well in bowling. It’s a shame that obama thinks he is bad as they are. Actually they are as good as the professionals. Yes, that is an insult!

I GUESS AMERICA LIKES WAR…. AND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A WARMONGER LIKE BUSH AS PRESIDENT.

What an idiot, The sitting president of Iran has threatened repeatedly to wipe our ally Israel off the face of the earth AND is one of the terrorists involved in the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. These people dont’ want dialog and our president simply looks weak for offering it. Now they think we are afraid of them. What a STUPID STUPID move. I guess the change is that we all will be converting to Islam.

Was that Ahmadinejad that started the roit against american hostage at Jimmy Carter time? Ahmadinejad won that time. Obama is now acting like jimmy carter and Ahmadinejad is winning again.

The reason we can dismiss the big talk from the right-wing keyboard warriors in regards to more saber-rattling toward Iran is that we know from the conspicuous lack of long lines of them at the Army recruitment centers during the war they ‘supported’ in Iraq that if there is a war with Iran that they aren’t going to be the ones to go fight it.
Posted by: Skip
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So negotiating is the answer, right Skip? Is it possible to negotiate with the Pope to make him worship Satan? Let’s see how much success we’d have if we were to try to negotiate with YOU to get you to become a conservative! The chances of Obama succeeding in negotiating with Al Qeada is about one fifth of that.
Obama does not use his head, Skip, and neither do you.

Clearly this page verifies the psychographics of a range of abcnews audiences. But!
To all the Right Wingers. Yes, Obama is reaching out but it is also an indirect attempt at make the “Iranian people” (not the government) change their politics internally. Notice that the video makes a parallel between Iran’s ancient past and it’s bleak outlook in the present. Obama understands that in order to change Iranian mindsets he has to reach out to their pride. He praises the past and Iranian people around the world eat that stuff up. Why do you think Iranians call themselves Persian? Because “Persian,” has positive connotations. Most people don’t like being associated with the current regime.
To all the culturally ignorant people who are writing comments on this site! Nowruz is a Zorastrian tradition, therefore not Islamic. Doesn’t that tell you anything? Iran may be an Islamic nation now but its heritage and Zorastrian ideals are still embedded in the present culture. The table decorations for this event are based on Zorastrian ideals which also included a wine bottle, now taken out. The oldest wine jar in the world is called the Hajji Firuz, located, you guessed it, in Iran. The Iranian culture is always in constant flux between past ideals and the present. All it needs are “words” to tilt it in one direction.
Obama is just trying to get “the people” to feel invigorated. Obama’s message is actually a very cleaver attempt at seeding another revolution. Don’t think this video makes the Iranian government feel fuzzy. It actually makes them nervous.
So yeah you could call this diplomacy!

Sooo if you rearrange the letters in BHO do you get Neville Chamberlain.

tunacantj – Nice to see your memory goes back to the late 70′s, better than most conservatives. Now, can it go back even further and explain why the Islamic Revolution happened and why they took over the US Embassy? Answer. The Iranians had a democratically elected gov under Mossadeq which decided to nationalize Iranian oil. USA did not like this because it hurt Standard Oil, so we arranged a coup to bring a dictator (Shah of Iran) to power. Over the next few decades the Shah brutally put down dissent, especially from the religious establishment. This drove the suffering Iranian people closer to the Mullahs and gave them power as the voice of decent against a harsh dictator. So when the bubble finally burst on the Shah’s regime, it was the clerics leading the charge. So how about we as Americans learn about our role in creating the Islamic Republic with our CIA covert actions and support for dictators.

Obama has taken a step in the right direction and if he has to go an extra mile to establish diplomatic relations that would certainly get things on the right track. That extra mile could be lifting of sanctions and that will be fine along with exchange between the people of Iran and the USA. I think the USA should also start normalizing relations with Cuba. These steps could be a spring board to a new era of American foreign relations and diffusing tensions and resolving conflicts. I am not suggesting being complacent or being off guard but negotiating from strength and higher moral ground. It is time to demonstrate being better human beings by acting with compassion and sensitivity.

Marco, you are confused. This thread is about negotiating with Iran, not al-Queda

The alternative is let Israel fly over and destroy every silo, every corner. Are we going to allow these people to develop the weapon and then use it as bargaining tool to press radical Islam upon weaker neighbors. BOMB THEM BOMB THEM NOW !!

Tom Who are you, Nostradamus? The amazing Kreskin can see the future

“Polls consistantly show 70% of the military are consertative in their voting. Iraq also had one of the highest retention rates of any war since WW2. Not sure what your trying to convey with your statement given those facts.”
You can’t tell me that only 30% of military personnel who voted, voted for Obama.
I’m trying to convey that right-wingers don’t have the guts to put their money where their mouth is. The military is scraping the bottom of the barrel for soldiers and has been for some time now and you know it. They’re sending 35 year old mothers who did a stint in the national guard 12 years ago over there. Are you trying to tell me that all the eligible military age Republicans that support the war are already over there fighting?

I guess there is evil in the world.

let’s not be stupid people….they are trying to build a nuclear bomb covertly and use it…probably on Israel, but who knows and we cannot allow that to occur. So all you fools that think we are going to kiss and make up better wake up and smell the coffee!”
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What is your solution?

Guy, showing your ignorance in writing….now that’s predictive……just use history my friend and recognize the most successful state/nation was the Roman Empire(over 600 years) and they were brought down by a little cancer like Iran.
Silky, well that says enough, but you will wake up from your dream soon and deal with reality just loke Obama must soon

force their compliance to International law or suffer the consequences….they are no different than North Korea or Syria….

Why would our enemies be intimidated by Obama?
He won’t even say the word terrorist and wants to charge our own soldiers for health care.
America is in trouble.

The reason we can dismiss the big talk from the right-wing keyboard warriors in regards to more saber-rattling toward Iran is that we know from the conspicuous lack of long lines of them at the Army recruitment centers during the war they ‘supported’ in Iraq that if there is a war with Iran that they aren’t going to be the ones to go fight it.
Posted by: Skip
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Lack of long lines? Your head buried in the sand? Recruitment was up during the Iraq war for all branches of the military as well as retention. And if you do not think it will be the right-wingers fighting, who will it be? Left-wingers? Maybe, but only after the draft is reinstated and they are forced to serve. And even then, half of them (if not more) will do their best to get out of serving anyway they can!

force their compliance to International law or suffer the consequences….they are no different than North Korea or Syria….
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And what are the consequences of ignoring International Law?

Hey Skip, in regards to Iran I don’t think anyone, left or right, say that diplomacy shouldn’t be the first, and most vigorous first step. However, if the Iranians do not beleive that you will use force, they will never take anything you say seriously. The world or UN has no spine when it comes to Iran. What is missing is the Iranians believing that there will be any serious downside to pursuing nuke weapons. Right now, nothing is showing them that the world will do anything serious to stop them, so why stop? If we all hang our hat on diplomacy, they will simply use that to stall, stiff arm, and dodge if never beleive you’ll use the stick over their head. That’s not diplomacy, that’s just wasting time.
So everyone should support the diplomatic approach, but the message also has to be sent that we will use force if Iran does not comply with the resolutions, otherwise what good is it?

And by admitting our mistakes and making amends does he mean “send us money!” Hasn’t anyone told him, we’re just about bankrupt! He’ll need to ask our new govenment for his allowance – can he speak Chinese?

I don’t know what fantasy world some people are living in, in which there are plenty of new recruits volunteering and people getting turned away, but my 35 year old brother in law who is a career Navy man was just ordered to 8 months duty on land, in Iraq, because they don’t have enough army guys to send. He isn’t even trained for what he is doing, and has already spent several tours in the Persian Gulf. Must be a Republican fantasy, telling yourself we have plenty of brave young Republicans just itching to go over and fight this pointless and expensive fight. And President Obama sent exactly the right message to Iran; whether and how soon they start to listen is up to them, but our president represents the dignity of what our country believes, hopes and strives for, not theirs. There are people all over the world who welcome this message of a desire for peace and inclusion, including in Iran and Iraq, even if their politicians and other paid rabble-rousers didn’t react positively.

Global Fraud!” Recruitment was up during the Iraq war for all branches of the military as well as retention.”
Really? Why were the stop loss policies required? Why did the Army and National Guard not make their recruitment goals in 2004 (the only year I bothered looking up)? Why are you lying?

“At what point do you think Obama should use military force – after they have the weapons or before they have the weapons?”
First step to a weapon is enrichment. In the past, both Bush and Putin offered Iran LIGHT water nuke power plants which do not use weapons grade uranium. Iran turned down the offer and have continued to enrich uranium for a heavy water nuke power plant. Heavy water plants use weapons grade plutonium, which can easily be consolidated and used for a weapon.
So enrichment is the key here. Every day they enrich, is a day they get closer to a nuke weapon. So the focus should be on stopping the enrichment, in which they have put their finger in the air to the world and said they would continue. So there is an impasse. A threat do destory the centrifuges, or at least they think there is a threat, may be the next step. Getting the Iranians to think the west is serious is a critical step, cause they currently have no concern that the UN (or US) will do anything serious.

Hey Eric
Impressive recollection of events even if it is twisted to show mean old America. Let’s ask a question. Would you be willing to give up your way of life, your cars, food, nice home to make amends? The cold hard facts are that Iran’s thuggocracy would only be satisfied if the USA gave up all of that. If this way of life is not worth defending to you – as it has been to all those citizens who fought for this country – then you are no more than a parasite living off those who would defend us, CIA, US Army, Marines whatever.

Marco: You said Obama doesn’t use his head? That is extremely funny coming from a guy who no doubt supported Bush, the biggest idiot to ever sit in the Oval Office. I love your double standard. Too funny.

tunacantj:”Would you be willing to give up your way of life, your cars, food, nice home to make amends? The cold hard facts are that Iran’s thuggocracy would only be satisfied if the USA gave up all of that.”
Oh please, Iran is NOT al quaida. If the US threw Israel into the sea, they’d be our best friends for life. Still wholly unacceptable, but it’s dangerous to be as completely ignorant of adversaries motivations as you appear to be. Not all our enemies are identical you know.

Global Fraud!” Recruitment was up during the Iraq war for all branches of the military as well as retention.”
Really? Why were the stop loss policies required? Why did the Army and National Guard not make their recruitment goals in 2004 (the only year I bothered looking up)?
Posted by: jhw539
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US Military Meets, Exceeds Recruiting Goals for February 2009

” but my 35 year old brother in law who is a career Navy man was just ordered to 8 months duty on land, in Iraq, because they don’t have enough army guys to send. He isn’t even trained for what he is doing, and has already spent several tours in the Persian Gulf. Must be a Republican fantasy”
Navy reservist doing what they call an “IA” or individual augmentee tour. This has more to do with the lack of sufficient active duty BILLETS, not a sign of poor recruiting.
Those who have no served in the military have to understand something. Not all jobs in the military are the same. Some rates or specific jobs have trouble filling their ranks, while others have a glut. Certain specialties, mostly those that require more training, are hard pressed to fill, while others that require a low amount of training have plenty of people. The army who have some with specialty experience or advanced training are being used in their field, where as in peacetime they would fill more administrative roles at an HQ. Since they are being used to take advantage of their training and/or experience, reserve augmentee’s or active duty augmentees are going to Iraq and Afghanistan to fill the adminsitrative roles, many of which don’t require tons of training to do.
So before you start touting that its a recruiting issue, you should probably serve and understand it.
Thats not to say we are having trouble recruiting in certain areas. There isn’t enough special ops guys out there because the training eliminates 70-80% of those that apply and there is huge demand for those guys. There aren’t enough FAE30′s in the Army cause the schoolhouse is so small, so the Army calls on other services to fill the gaps. Its far more complicated than “they can’t recruit” balony. But people will beleive simplistic explanations of complex things without question sometimes.

Global fraud!:”Really? Why were the stop loss policies required? Why did the Army and National Guard not make their recruitment goals in 2004 (the only year I bothered looking up)?
Posted by: jhw539
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US Military Meets, Exceeds Recruiting Goals for February 2009 ”
So you counter my pointing to a full year’s data during the height of the Iraq war by pointing to ONE MONTH of data from under the Obama administration when the war is finally wearing down?
Do you even realize how embarrassingly weak that makes your “argument” seem? You said: ” Recruitment was up during the Iraq war for all branches of the military as well as retention.”
Fact: The Army and National Guard missed their recruiting targets in 2004. Conclusion: You were lying about recruitment being up.
Fact: Stop loss, the INVOLUNTARY extension of military service was used widely during the war. Conclusion: You were probably lying about retention being up.
Fact: Your best response to the above is a single month of recruiting information taken under the Obama administration after a pull out date has been set.

Phew! Lot of ignorance on display here…
Some of the posters scare me quite frankly. According to their theory, let’s bomb them to oblivion and then ask questions. That would go perfectly in line with the treatment of Natives a couple of centuries ago, with the enslaving of 15 million Africans, and starting 23 wars in our short history of a country! Why should we bomb them back to the Middle Ages? BECAUSE WE CAN!
It made us the darling of the world, so why not continue that path?
And for all of you who think that Iran will launch a nuclear attack against Israel or another country, please THINK first before you post. Should Iran decide to build a bomb and use it, the consequences would be the end of Iran as a country. It would be levelled beyond recognition.
President Obama is the best thing that could have happened to America! What a contrast to the trigger happy morons before him! So keep whining you war mongers, you are a dying breed!

VIVA OBAMA -
AND THANK YOU FOR
SEEING THIS WORLD HUMANLY -NOT US AGAINST THEM KIND OF ALL FORMS OF EXTREMISTS.EXTRMISM IS THE CANCER TO HUMAN KINDS WHETHER ITS MUSLIM ,CHRISTIAN JEWS OR HINDU–WE’ ALL ARE HUMANS AND THIS PLANET BELONGS FOR ALL OF US TO ENJOY

He’s soft on terrorist and is willing to send our tax money to Gaza.
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Hmmm….. All those people in Gaza are to blame now are they? It’s not not like they have passports and are free to go now is it? Why they can just walk across the boarder into Israel, or Jordan, or Egypt, or hop a plane to the US.
Absurd!

Would you not all be embarrassed if OBAMA succeeds in achieving peace in the Middle East and getting what Israel wants without killing thousands of Iranians? Why not give his approach a chance? Or, killing Iranians is what you writers want and are fearful OBAMA’s approach might avoid this outcome.

He is a joke. The whole world thinks he’s a joke and now thinks we’re a joke as a country not only because of him but because of all the dirty laundry we continue to air out from 10 years ago till today. The only upside is that maybe now terrorists won’t even bother sneaking a nuke in ’cause China would be a more amazing target.

Is it better to let the Iranians have nuke weapons and not take military action or should military action be taken to prevent them from having nuclear weapons?
What are the benefits of Iran having nuclear weapons?

ignoring International Law would result in sanctions and eventually attack…..so sorry, but those are the rules

KR wrote: ” He could achieve something that would undo 3,000 years of fighting between Jews and Palestinians. It is however, a complete pipe dream. It’s going to take generations for it to end, not administrations, and it has to come from them, not us. We get so arrogant in what we think we can achieve, it works against us more time than not.”
Am I safe in my assumption that you said the same thing when we invaded Iraq?

“Am I safe in my assumption that you said the same thing when we invaded Iraq?”
Actually I said the same thing about Iraq adopting our forms of laws and Democracy. Their forms of laws will inherently fit their culture, which is far more brutal than ours. So yes, I did the say the same thing, but not about the Iraqi’s wanting freedom from Saddam, they did want that. Where we were arrogant is that they would want our interpretation of that freedom. It cannot be generalized like you put it.

Some 30 years ago while attending the Univ of San Diego, religion in other languages. I was inspired to write a paper regarding the real preceive reason why people fight each other. “God” Every religious group believes that they have and know the right and only god yet all of the gods that I had to research (except a few minor ones) for that paper seemed to be loving entities. We are the physical hands of these entities on earth and I couldn’t find any reason why (we the people of earth)there has to be a decision made as to which god is the best god. All gods are best when they are praised in love by the people who praise theirs own. If we all would get to know the other gods you just might find what I did. They are all for love and mercy in the region of the planet that the people who praise them live.
I have met the enemy in my time and before I did, I said a prayer to “my” almighty god who did save me but i know some of my enemy did the same and were not saved. For the sake of their god and our god, may we find a leader in this country who can act as a leader of his/her people and let gods be private to all who wish to serve him/them. Lets praise each other for a change, maybe we will have another one of those 2 centuries of peace in the world. In closing, may your god richly bless you!

“So everyone should support the diplomatic approach, but the message also has to be sent that we will use force if Iran does not comply with the resolutions, otherwise what good is it?”
You and I have had this debate before KR so we don’t need to put everyone through it again. We end up agreeing on these two points. What I don’t agree with you about is that everyone else does. Too many people posting here today for example want to portray Obama’s approach as weakness or even cowardice. I disagree. I think it takes great strength to make the first moves toward peace when you know you’re going to get a lot of critcism for it.

ignoring International Law would result in sanctions and eventually attack…..so sorry, but those are the rules
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Sanctions are in place, so who is going to attack?

KR I never understand war-mongers like you. We invaded and killed Iraqi’s for no good reason My hatred is unjust war , our dead soldiers, limbless and blind veterans who got hurt for NO GOOD REASON. PS We supported Saddam and gave him his chemical weapons PSS Our CIA trained Osama bin Loser in the 80′s great job Neo-cons

Too many people posting here today for example want to portray Obama’s approach as weakness or even cowardice. I disagree. I think it takes great strength to make the first moves toward peace when you know you’re going to get a lot of critcism for it.
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To the writer of this post and others like it, it is not that we want war w/ Iran. I’d like nothing better than for us to have World peace. It’s that we know you can’t trust these people. These are the same people that deny the Hollocaust! How can that be? You are not dealing w/ a rationale regime here, yet you are trying to look at this rationally. The only thing that Iran understands is strength. And what Obama is doing – no matter what good intentions he may have – is showing weakness. I’m not saying we have to threaten Iran at every opportunity, but you can’t effectively bend over and expect your enemy to respect you! Weakness – real or perceived – on our part will be exploited by the Iranians. The Russians thought JFK was weak, and it lead to them parking nukes 90 miles off our coast. Thankfully, JFK really wasn’t weak, but his example still shows what weakness – real or perceived (and in his case, initially perceived) – leads to. Obama looks weak on this, and so now we do as a country! Expect Iran to treat us as if we are weak!

JOSEPH BRINGS OUT A GOOD POINT!, Posted by: joseph | Mar 20, 2009 11:35:40 AM
But just as frightening. , Iran is a Shia state, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia are Sunni states.
None of them will stand idle while Iran has nukes.
>>> They too will want nukes. <<>> VERY <<< SOON!!!!!!!!
LOL……
C.E.

KR – If you think Iraq is now an “ally” in the war on terror against Iran you are terribly misinformed. The Shia majority government in Iraq is subordinate to Iran and Iran has much more infuence in Iraq than we do, even with our troops still there.

KR You or your sons or nephews or uncles gonna join the Army ? Going to fight Iran ? Step up to the plate – talk is cheap You want war so badly You go fight it – I am SICK of war personally

Bush and his supporters are running around the country attempting to rehab Bush/Cheney image the last few weeks.
Obama is rehabbing the USA image after 8 years of Bush/Cheney nightmare.
Go Obama!

It is dangerous for him to send the message to the Iranians. It is a mistake. He should focus on the economy and fix the problem. He has ‘lack’ of experience and leadership.

To the writer of this post and others like it, it is not that we want war w/ Iran. I’d like nothing better than for us to have World peace. It’s that we know you can’t trust these people
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Maybe we can Maybe we can’t./ Does it matter? From what I read here some people think this is the only thing that Obama is doing.
Is it absurd to try an talk? Do really think that the US is not prepared to do what is necessary should it come to that?
‘
It sounds more like many of you are hoping that talk fails and we can just go off to war again, and again, and agian. Why not it is so simple. We just blow the hell out of hundreds of thousands, and send thousands of our kids to their death, but you know what I am safe.
Grow up; someone always pays the price, we are doing so now, we did after every war we were in; Emotionally, Politically, and Economically.

“I have the utmost respect for President Obama and his administration. I partly support what he did today, even at the point of feeling sick in my stomach to hear islamic republic in the same sentence as Iran.”
Enjoyed your post SB, and agree with most of what you said. Unfortunately, by Obama calling it the Islamic Republic of Iran, did he give credence to the regime? Would the Iranians see it as recognizing the regime? I’m indifferent on the issue, but it does give a hint of conforming to the Iranian regime’s description of itself.

Hey KR Did you know most Iranian people like Americans Wear Levi’s listen to hip-hop music Why should we kill them, please tell me how they threaten you or your family?please

Bush is a Rhode Scholar A mind like that cant be wrong Lets nuke every other country we dont like for no real reason. His economic and foreign policies worked so very well. What a safer world we live in thanks to georgie Porgie

Hey guy, did you know that on every friday for the past 20 years the Iranian people take to the streets and chant “death to America” and burn our flag in the streets. In all the videos I have seen of this not one person was wearing Levi’s or playing rap crap.

For like the 8th time…he was talking to the citizens of Iran, not the leadership. And the response has been positive. Stop playing the fool.
Posted by: silky | Mar 20, 2009 12:52:13 PM
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The people of Iran aren’t running the country. A bunch of religious zealots are! What they think matters. You need to stop playing the naive fool!

. “Lets nuke every other country we dont like for no real reason.”
Bush may not be a Rhodes Scholar, but apparently, after reading your comments, he’s a lot smarter than you. BTW, what countries did Bush threaten to nuke, as you imply?

What is the difference between the Ayatollah that runs Iran and Saddam Hussein?

“For like the 8th time…he was talking to the citizens of Iran, not the leadership. And the response has been positive. Stop playing the fool.
Posted by: silky | Mar 20, 2009 12:52:13 PM________________________________________
The people of Iran aren’t running the country. A bunch of religious zealots are! What they think matters. You need to stop playing the naive fool!”
You’re missing the point. He is working at building good will with the people of Iran. That is a good thing. He already knows where the leadership stands.

silky
Do you believe that the leaders and enforcers in Iran are not terrorists? They executed a prisoner for insulting their leader today. They stone women as adulterers. They execute homosexuals. Their surrogates have killed our forces in Iraq and Lebanon. They bombed embassies in South America and cafes in Berlin. What do you believe the definition of a terrorist should be?

tunacantj – I think that you have a mis perception of Iran. It is a fairly modern country, and the folks who hold economic power in that country are moderate and favor engagement with the world. The religious establishment is not popular with the educated classes and only survived the last decade because the previous administration neutered the educated Iranian moderates and moderate politicians when he countered their offer of a post 9-11 constructive relationship with a place in the “Axis of Evil”. The direct result of which was the nutjob Achmadinejad. Surely their desire for a greater Persia does not include the USA. Greater Persia would actually be the “stans” which are under the influence of their ally Russia. One thing is for certain, Iranians are not out to get us, and if you look at recent history any objective observer would conclude the opposite.

“Can you demonstrate how this in any way advances world security or is in the interests of the United States?”
Tangibly, right now, no. But the sentiment reaching the people of Iran is only going to be positive. That regime needs to go, whether from internal or external forces. In the meantime, what is the harm in reseting things from a diplomatic standpoint?

No comment by Obama about the American journalist currently being held in Iran against her will, though.
But really, who cares what happens to her? It’s not like Obama has a duty to defend the citizens of the United States.

“His statement implies he is willing to negotiate with terrorists.”
Not the same thing.

“But really, who cares what happens to her? It’s not like Obama has a duty to defend the citizens of the United States.”
What do you know about his efforts to get this person freed?

“If we exhaust all diplomacy and sanctions”
At what point is “exhaust all diplomacy”. Just asking as this has been going on for 4 years now. Another 4 years?
What if we get intel that they are a few months away from a nuke, do we take military action prior to that point or wait until it’s detonated underground?
In diplomacy, you can choose to play in the arena of knowns, or you can choose to play in the arena of “what ifs”.
We know they do not have a nuke, but they want one. We know that they have threatened other nations. We know that our intel was wrong on the number of operating centrifuges in Iran, estimated 2500 and learned it was closer to 15000.
So with that, how long is long enough? Give us your best guess.

“Who has been saying that Iran was a state sponser of terror, oh yeah that was the Bush Administration and they were well known for being truthful.”
Iran has been shipping weapons to Hamas and Hezbolah, known terrorist organizations, for decades. They also funded and operated insurgents in Iraq, a violation of the laws of war and would be an act of war in everyones book except ours, well maybe France as well. Is that criteria not good enough?

“Who has been saying that Iran was a state sponser of terror, oh yeah that was the Bush Administration and they were well known for being truthful.”
Iran has been on the State Sponsor of Terrorism since 1984. Still are even today under Obama.

yeah we’ve exhausted all diplomacy by threatening Iran for 4 years and not talking to them great stategy -its worked so far

“yeah we’ve exhausted all diplomacy by threatening Iran for 4 years and not talking to them great stategy -its worked so far”
So far they have never been threatened with strikes, as much as you’d like to believe that. Lets look at what Bush has done to Iran. I believe in 2006 (or 2005), an economic package was offered by the US and Russia to build things such as LIGHT water nuke power plants, refineries to refine their own oil, as well as a number of other economic incentives to give up enrichment. They refused. Not too long after, the UN authorized stronger sanctions on Iran. That brings us to today. Still looking for that big bad threatening “we’ll invade you har har har” you characterize Bush with.

kr great story. more choices though.
4. get a mandate for a search in his garage.
5. if you randomly take him out, the whole neighborhood will use that to get at your family.
6. engage the neighborhood to understand that you’re not enemy. (virtually everyone, except one uses that to do unjust things like abusing their daughters, sons and wives without taking responsibility.)

How does Iran threaten me and my family? just like Iraq didnt? Tell me why these human beings deserve to die? Please explain

sigmund freud – its common sense to talk to people Ignoring or shunning them has done NOTHING ZERO ZILCH NADA to help America

Hey I never said you don’t talk. In my posts below, I point out Diplomacy has been going on for 4 years. Not directly from the President, but from US representatives, or through intermediaries as is common in diplomacy (like Jordan or Russia).
Look, I’m with you guys, if you can talk him out of this, go for it. Those who have closely studied this regime will most likely tell you that your playing into their hands as they need time and need to stall us. Just like North Korea dazzled us with diplomacy and talks right up until they detonated a bomb underground, diplomacy can serve to work against us. If we are all aware of that, we won’t be so shocked if the day comes you read in the paper that Iran detonated a bomb, soon to be followed by one in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. If we are all fine with that, then lets get on the big koombayah wagon and smoke some hash and kick the horse.
Lets just realize a couple of things. There will be nukes all over the middle east. 70% of the worlds energy flows through the straights in which Iran has laid claim to. They have on multiple times in the past attempted to close the straights launching silkworm missiles at our Navy. When they are a nuke power, they will be able to do that and our Navy will be powerless to do anything about it, effectively bringing the world to its knees.
As long as we accept that risk, diplomacy till your hearts content. You won’t get any argument from me. However, I do not think many on here are aware of the termoil a nuke Iran will cause.

kr great story. more choices though.
love this analogy. Let’s continue.
So you take the option to go into the garage and find out exactly what he is doing, is he making a gun? Well it turns out he was making a box car for his son. Let’s call this man Iraq.

“So you take the option to go into the garage and find out exactly what he is doing, is he making a gun? Well it turns out he was making a box car for his son. Let’s call this man Iraq.”
I knew that would come up. Let me turn that around on you.
So you take the option to talk to the guy and he stalls, stringing you along and suddenly, BOOM, theres a shot in the garage. Oh thats North Korea.

Now I agree that Iran sending money and weapons to Hezbolah and Hammas does not help the intrest of America. But we have done the samething supporting locals of diffrent nations to support our own intrests, Congo, Columbia, Iraq, Afgahnistan. I think the pharse is War by Proxy. So under that definition we would be terrorists, but since we deem our Proxy Wars just in the name of Liberty. Forcing people to adapt or form their beliefs to what we want them to do is just as wrong. Though our enemies claim that they are just defending their homes and way of life from Western influence. Who is right here? Which side is on the side of rightousness? Is it American arrogance that we believe we can change other governments when we don’t like. One thing is true, the only time true and lasting change to take place you have to have an uprising from within. Our own country did this. France did not even get involved with our independence until it was clear the colonies were going to win.

“the persumtion of innocence is one of our greastest attributes as Americans. If you see boogiemen in every shadow, innocent people will suffer.”
You have no idea how many boogiemen are running around out there. Fortunately you live a nice sheltered life here in the states. When you go outside these borders, and you’re job is to understand the threats posed to this nation, its allies, and it’s interests, you start to realize that the boogieman is real and he has no love for you. He will tell you what you want to hear to get what he wants, and he’ll stab you in the back if you turn your back to him. It’s real folks, this is a dangerous, screwed up world. I’ve spent the last 5 years in strategic studies and there is no peace pipe out there to smoke.

“But we have done the samething supporting locals of diffrent nations to support our own intrests, Congo, Columbia, Iraq, Afgahnistan. I think the pharse is War by Proxy.”
Certainly was a staple of the Cold War diet by both us and the Russians. It is innevitable that our nation will support groups that support us. Those that don’t support us, or threaten our allies, we work to undermine.
Certainly Iran is doing the same with Hamas etc. Doesn’t mean we go “Oh ok, go ahead, we understand”. You counter it, you try to stop it because it affects one of our allies. That’s the game of the world bud. There’s black, theres white, and theres grey and we’re in all of em.
But our nation does stand for liberty and freedom. We lost our way in the Cold War because of necessity to protect interests abroad. We have a chance after the Cold War to finally be principled in that, but we pooh pooh it for the sake of non-existant peace.
This country hasn’t done everything right, and hasn’t done everything wrong, but we should always stand on liberty and freedom. Just like Hamas was elected, we have to learn to accept what we get. We have to strive to be a principled nation on democracy, freedom and liberty even if we didn’t do well at it in the past, we can’t use the past to justify stopping that pursuit. It is in the best interest of the world that people experience freedom and liberty if we ever truely want to see peace in the world. Accepting and containing status quo will never achieve the peace in the world we all say we want. We disagree on how to get there.

“Previously, the hard-liners have been able to blame the impasse on Bush, who was widely unpopular in Iran.”
Give them time. They’ll create an impasse with Obama. They did with Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. I’d be surprised if they choose a different tactic now. They will find something Obama will not budge on and when they do, they’ll have their excuse.

Guy
I completley agree with that last post. The point I was trying to make is that we are playing the same game that has failed. A new opportunity arises now that we as the United States may take a some what diffrent aproach. That we might brake the cycle. I like his approach is diffrent tha what we have tried to do before, so I think the Pres deserves a little credit instead of the harsh critism from our republican leaders.

The Queen send a new year message to the World every year. But I think this Obama new year message to Iran is not the same. Gengis Khan also send his message and ambassador to Iran at the time it was Persia, and they send back his head in a basket.

Very satisfying to see the President show respect for an ancient culture regardless of how paranoid their junior leader is about Israel. I so admire and love Mr. Obama and Mrs. Obama and their little sprouts. The garden is a great idea, I’m going to plant a bunch of my seed packets from last year, now that I’ve heard that they last three years. It was not inspired by the White House garden, but by a plot of ground behind our garage that could be a wonderful place to plant.
Or I could get one of those expensive round contraptions that does all the work for you within your home, for a couple of hundred dollars. Hardly Making Do…
I loved the quotation that the President selected. I only know The Prophet and “Speak to me now of children” and back when I was campaigning for Barack Obama, I made up a poster for him with those words on it. Too long for a poster, but I raised my kids by it and they turned out well.
I enjoy reading your postings. I’m new to this world but I’m learning to scan faster and faster.
At some point I hang it up and go lay down, but unfortunately that point is midnight to 2 a.m. and I wake up at 6, exhausted, to begin again.
I’m on dialysis M-W-F for 4 hrs. each so there’s a lot of time hooked up to a machine to watch political tv and read books and magazines. One patient even brings her computer down and I’m going to do that. My computer is a notebook that’s about 5 years old, and she just came in with a little thing about 6 ” x 8″. I’m insanely jealous, but a new little baby computer is not on my want list for right now. I’m busy making Dymo labels for my million file folders (for the stuff I don’t want to store in Bookmarks).
Have a great night.

Iran is our new BFF!

Hey Folks,
President Obama created a personal message to the president of Iran and shared it with the world. The open dialog has started and Mr. Obama is using the full power of the Internet to help solve some of our world problems. I commend them both for wanting to work toward solving the problems between our two countries.
Both sides have valid issues but the past is the past. Time now to look toward the future. This is a game played on a world level.
President Obama could stun the world by bringing Israel to the stage. He should send another message asking Israel to stop playing the game of letting the world wonder if they possess nuclear weapons. To stop the deception by refusing to confirm or deny. Oh yes, it would upset Israel and some members of our government, but Mr. Obama would show courage and the American people would see this and know the real President Obama. Mr. Obama is working for the greater good of the American people and the people of the world, not for the members of Congress. With the support of the American people he can accomplish great things. That is where his real power lies.
ISRAEL, please tell the world the truth. Your scientists know and the nuclear scientists of the world know. If we want to stop the proliferation of WMD’s it needs to include the ENTIRE nuclear club and the countries that wish to become a club member. If Israel disarmed voluntarily, that would give Iran incentives to drop their quest for building a bomb and show the world that the United States is committed to bringing peace to the world. Current members of the club include:
United States
Russia
Ukraine
China
United Kingdom
France
India
Pakistan
Israel
It is known that Syria and Argentina both wish to become members. How many other nations desire this kind of power?
Every nation that builds these weapons increases the risk for catastrophy.
Support President Obama’s efforts. His job is difficult and he’s trying to do the right thing.
Thanks for reading…