Iran: Obama said let's talk and reasonable. Ahmedinejad said no thanks. Iranians voted for a more reasonable guy but the pasadran and mullahs tried to rig the election. Now it actually looks like the islamic republic's day might be numbered. This didn't happen when we were being confrontational towards them when bush was pres. I'm not giving obama credit for what's going on over there, but his election and change in our attitude since have certainly had an impact on what's going on in iran.
It might be a little soon to declare failure, buddy. Undiebomber doesn't change that either....
Since you, unlike the others, actually made somewhat of an attempt to keep the conversation on topic I will answer your post.
2/3 of the Iranian population is under 30. The Iranian people are very pro-US. One of the main reasons is that Iran, not that long ago was one of the most Westernized countries in the region - this was when the Shaw was in power. Then Jimmy Carter helped the radicals overthrow the Shaw and put the Iatola in power. Why he did this is another subject. But, since the 70s the people of Iran have been pro-US and have been oppressed by the radicals.
Ahmedinijad is believed to have been a terrorist before gaining power. He is credited with pushing an old crippled man off of a ship to drown.
People who understand mid-East politics and who understand the minds of radicals know that diplomacy is a lost cause with men like Ahmedinijad. They also know that opening dialog with people suggests that they are worthy of such attention and it legitimizes them. If a raving lunatic from one of our prisons demanded to speak to the president, nobody would grant his request because the man isn't worthy of such attention. That is how terrorist thugs should be treated.
Another thing to understand about the minds of radicals is that they do not think like we do. Radical Muslims see only power, not justice. In Islam, everything happens according to the will of God. When Muslims are powerful, it is by the will of God. When infidels are powerful, it is seen as an insult to Islam and the opposite of what God wants. The fact that we are more powerful is an insult to Islam - whether or not we use that power justly or at all is irrelevant.
See, you Lefties need to disabuse yourself of the foolish notion that the radicals think like us and are concerned with justice. They hate us for what we are, not for what we do. You guys really need to think about this fact for a while. If you allow this fact to soak into your brain for a while, things will become more clear. The radicals will stop hating us if and only if they can subjugate us. Get it through your skull. You want proof? All over the world there are Mosques built on the ruins of Churches and Synagogues. This is meant to symbolize the domination of Islam over the infidels. The Dome of the Rock in Israel is one such place. In another, the tomb stones were stolen from an ancient Jewish cemetery and a latrine constructed from them. Many other historic Jewish sites have been desecrated by Muslims - but the opposite is not true. The Israelis are meticulous in preserving the historic sites of all faiths - this exemplifies the difference in thinking. Many of us remember the giant Buddha statues destroyed in Afghanistan for being "an offense to Islam." There are numerous others examples world wide - Spain is littered with them. All of these are symbols of Islam's dominance over the infidel.
But you see, I didn't learn this from reading opinion pieces on the internet, although I read many. I learned this sitting in a college classroom along with some of the major tenants of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. My professor held a PhD in religious studies from Yale. But I digress.
There is a consensus among people knowledgeable about such issues. The consensus is that talking to nut jobs like Ahmedinijad is pointless. Obama was not knowledgeable in such matters prior to his election, though he is now getting a crash course.
What I would like people to do, is to look at what happened and to think about what happened and why. Could it be that maybe the Conservatives who predicted what would happen down to the letter actually know what they are talking about? Could it be that maybe the Leftists who were adamant about talking to Ahmedinijad were clueless on this issue?
As I've pointed out the Iranians have been pro-US for a long time. Most do not want to get bombed and now that they see Obama going in that direction they are becoming understandably agitated. If you look at the issue clearly, the Obama candidacy was probably what kept them quiet this long - now that he has picked up a stick they are scared. That is all people respond to in that region.
See, what is happening is that Obama is getting a crash course on mid-East politics. He is now seeing that radical jihadists are a real threat; he is seeing that leaders like Ahmedinijad do not respond to diplomacy, they respond to force. And, he is seeing that the radicals will want to destroy us regardless of our foreign policies. He is beginning to see all of these things because he now has advisors who know a thing or two about these issues.
Obama, has been hit over the head with a big dose of reality. I am just wondering if the rest of you have.
