|
Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
dmbfan

Joined: 09 Mar 2006
|
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:01 am Post subject: Iran and Obama |
|
|
So, if we are NICE to these people they still won't want to try and settle things?
Imagine that.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510059,00.html
Quote: |
President Obama intends to press ahead with efforts to open a dialogue with Iran despite an apparent setback yesterday when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country�s supreme religious leader, dismissed U.S. overtures as a �slogan� offering no real change.
Obama and his aides had already been considering a direct approach to Khamenei as a possible follow-up to the president's unprecedented video address to the Iranian people, released on Friday.
Khamenei�s initial response was not encouraging, but U.S. officials and European diplomats noted that the Iranian leader did not rule out a future breakthrough. A familiar chant of �Death to America� echoed around a religious shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad as Khamenei complained that Obama had �insulted the Islamic republic of Iran from the first day."
He added: �If you are right that change has come, where is that change? Make it clear for us what has changed.�
His remarks came as a nuclear powered U.S. submarine � the USS Hartford � collided at sea with an amphibious vessel, the USS New Orleans, off the Straits of Hormuz. Fifteen sailors were injured, but the submarine�s atomic propulsion system was undamaged.
The Iranian leader's comments followed a striking attempt by Obama to break the deadlock with the country. The president marked the beginning of the Persian new year with conciliatory remarks intended to establish a new commitment to diplomacy after years of bellicose exchanges between Tehran and the administration of former President George W. Bush.
In the video � subtitled in Farsi � Obama pledged to pursue �constructive ties." The president noted that the process would �not be advanced by threats," and referred to Iran as an �Islamic republic," signalling his readiness to deal with the current religious leadership. |
|
|
Back to top |
|
 |
mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
|
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
It's a strategy to trip up hardliners for the upcoming June election, giving them as little to run on as possible.
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE52J6F320090320
Quote: |
Over time, Obama's strategy may pay dividends by forcing hard-liners in Iran "to justify their often gratuitous enmity toward the U.S.," Sadjadpour said.
|
Ahmadinejad got elected in 2005 by being able to show that the reformers were getting nowhere with the US and the rest of the world and that the country needed a strong person to be in power. You'll notice that he and Khamenei can't stop talking about Bush even after he's gone.
IOW, wait until June 12th and then we'll know whether this outreach has been successful. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
dmbfan

Joined: 09 Mar 2006
|
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
Quote: |
It's a strategy to trip up hardliners for the upcoming June election, giving them as little to run on as possible.
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE52J6F320090320
Quote:
Over time, Obama's strategy may pay dividends by forcing hard-liners in Iran "to justify their often gratuitous enmity toward the U.S.," Sadjadpour said.
Ahmadinejad got elected in 2005 by being able to show that the reformers were getting nowhere with the US and the rest of the world and that the country needed a strong person to be in power. You'll notice that he and Khamenei can't stop talking about Bush even after he's gone.
IOW, wait until June 12th and then we'll know whether this outreach has been successful. |
OK...Good stuff. I"ll check it out.
Thanks for the link!
dmbfan |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
|
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:46 am Post subject: |
|
|
mithridates wrote: |
It's a strategy to trip up hardliners for the upcoming June election, giving them as little to run on as possible.
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE52J6F320090320
Quote: |
Over time, Obama's strategy may pay dividends by forcing hard-liners in Iran "to justify their often gratuitous enmity toward the U.S.," Sadjadpour said.
|
Ahmadinejad got elected in 2005 by being able to show that the reformers were getting nowhere with the US and the rest of the world and that the country needed a strong person to be in power. You'll notice that he and Khamenei can't stop talking about Bush even after he's gone.
IOW, wait until June 12th and then we'll know whether this outreach has been successful. |
No what got Amahdinejad elected was promising to improve Irans economy, which he failed to do drasticly.. even during the period of time when gas prices were the highest in history, he still didnt make a dent in Irans economy, and angered alot of Iranians who saw him as needlessly provoking the US with the nuclear saber rattling.
If after June 12, the hardliners still have power in Iran itll essentially be a countdown to D-Day.. D as in Decision, when the US/Israel/regional nations concered will have to decide just how much they want to impede Irans nuclear efforts, and whether military action would be suitable to do so. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
|
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
NAVFC wrote: |
mithridates wrote: |
It's a strategy to trip up hardliners for the upcoming June election, giving them as little to run on as possible.
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE52J6F320090320
Quote: |
Over time, Obama's strategy may pay dividends by forcing hard-liners in Iran "to justify their often gratuitous enmity toward the U.S.," Sadjadpour said.
|
Ahmadinejad got elected in 2005 by being able to show that the reformers were getting nowhere with the US and the rest of the world and that the country needed a strong person to be in power. You'll notice that he and Khamenei can't stop talking about Bush even after he's gone.
IOW, wait until June 12th and then we'll know whether this outreach has been successful. |
No what got Amahdinejad elected was promising to improve Irans economy |
That's always part of it (nobody gets elected by promising to ruin the economy), but foreign relations also played a big part.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002341681_iranbush20.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/middle_east/4108452.stm
It might seem weird that Iran would cut off their nose to spite their face in that way, but then again that's what brought their current government into power in the first place so they're certainly capable of that. |
|
Back to top |
|
 |
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|