Forget The AIG Bonuses: Obama Just Ended Our War with Iran!

Enough with the AIG bonuses.

Yesterday President Obama sent a video message to Iran which essentially says: let's talk. The Axis of Evil is dead. This is huge.

Everything about this Obama video message to Iran is just right, starting with his reference to the "Islamic Republic." No threats. No pointless references to its President's off-the-wall statements. Just respect and the offer to join the US in working for peaceful relations.

If you ever wondered why we elected this guy, here you have it.

Comments

[Rog49Thomas]

Before we pronounce a great turning point, let's make sure this isn't a change in tactics rather than of strategy.

Or in other words, when does the fleet come "home" from the Gulf?

Are all the "infiltration" teams out of the IRI?

Have we stopped trying to foment unrest in the IRI?

[harriscrl3]

Gosh darn our President is such a workaholic who KNOWS how to multitask whatever did we do to deserve this

Carol

[urweatherman]

Just save your elation and don't pop the corks until about 5 years from now to see what truly results from all of this!

[liban130]

What War??? We have sanctions against Iran and We are sleeping with Israel Of course They hate us. Obama needs to do more!!!!!!

[JonSmiley]

This will be remembered as Obama's greatest moment.

[Kaviraj]

if holding a speech to Iran is his greatest moment, then you elected the wrong man. If his actions speak louder than his words, you may have reason to celebrate a truly great moment.

[Miriam Mogilevsky]

This will be remembered as Obama's greatest moment...if it actually brings about peace.

[Gayrove]

We can't forget that there are multitudes of Americans who know no more about Iran than the leaders of the Bush administration did. They think that Iran is Iraq with an "n". They do not realize that, for example,
Afghanistan was part of greater Iran in ancient times, and that the second Afghan official language, Dari, is the Afghan version of Farsi. "Afghanistan" is a new reality, one created by the West. Think "Transoxiana". And include "Tajikistan" in that as well. "Tajik" or "Tadjik" is just a nasty Turkish name for Persian....a variation on an "n" word to be used in the Middle East.
Will we try to achieve something in Afghanistan WITHOUT Iran's help? Foolish. The Russians didn't get it either, and the British could have used Iranian allies to have avoided the horrible mistake that turned into Pakistan and Bangladesh. We don't look at Iran through rosy glasses: we (and the British and everyone else) look at it through lenses coated wtih petroleum...Cheney glasses. Bush I & II glasses.
God bless Obama, may he be filled with the spirit of the great Iranian monarch, Cyrus, whom the Lord God of Israel (in Isaiah) called His Anointed!

[Kaviraj]

"avoided the horrible mistake that turned into Pakistan and Bangladesh."
That was not a "mistake" but a deliberate attempt at divide and rule between hindus and muslims.

[AnotherMike]

Mr. Rosenberg, I suggest you wait for a response from the very people we are trying to strengthen a relationship with before you come to any conclusions as to the success of the effort.

Your celebration is incredibly premature.

[ObjectiveRealist]

Bush also lied about Iran.

http://www.truthout.org/article/interview-scott-ritter-bombs-away
Scott Ritter: I think that is the wrong question. That presumes Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. There's no evidence of that whatsoever. So rather than pose a question that legitimizes a certain point, I think the question should be, "What should the United States be doing in regards to Iran?" I think we should be seeking to normalize relations with Iran. We should be seeking stability in the region. This concept that the United States gets to dictate to sovereign people the makeup of their government is absurd. ... The day of the exportation of the Islamic revolution is long gone. The Iranians are not seeking to convert by the sword ... It's a nation that has serious internal problems. Economic. Huge unemployment. It's a nation that recognizes these problems. And they are in desperate need of not only political stability but also the economic benefits that come with this stability.

The Iranians want a normalization of relations with the United States that would be inclusive of peaceful coexistence with Israel. They've said this over and over and over again.

So what the United States should be doing is exploiting the olive branch that is being held out by the Iranians. We should be engaging them diplomatically. We should be terminating economic sanctions and seeking to exploit the leverage that comes with having American businesses working inside Iran to try and change them from within.

[Ben Dixon]

We talked to the USSR but that didn't mean the cold war ended before the 1990's. Don't put the horse before the cart.

[mendelcrosses]

It ended without a NUCLEAR battle.

[TRYKER]

Wellll, the cold war with Russia was trumped up by the Military Industrial Complex and promoted through the media, but was essentially a non-issue. So, calling an end to a propaganda campaign at that time...doesn't dictate when we should call an end, this time, to the MIC/MSM/neocon propaganda campaign of "Iran is the evil one now".
If Obama's overtures to Iran put a stop to the incessant "Iran is Boogie Man" BS that we've been fed for years, then that is as it should be. I'm glad he spoke directly to the Iranian people and on tape, so no one could parse his words.
The Bush team were liars all, so whatever crap they were pushing about Iran is as true as..."we don't torture".
Of course we must change our attitudes about all foreign countries and our unwarranted intrusion into their business as well as their perfect right to exist. duh
At least Obama knows this. He wants to make friends, he is new in the neighborhood and not looking for a fight.
It will take Iran time to come to trust such a country that has shamed itself the world over.

[Kaviraj]

No, by all means put the horse behind it again and again. That way you will not normalise anything for the future. Horses belong behind the cart of course, where they have the least effect. Possibly that is what you mean Dixon?

[batguano]

The pro-Israel lobby and Israeli extremists will be frothing at the mouth over this common sense move by Obama. Maybe this US administration will put AIPAC and the "settler" nutters in their place and not let them run the show any longer. AIPAC has been a defacto agent of a foreign country in the ways they influence our foreign policy in favor of continued war and conflict. AIPAC has undue influence and access to all our elected reps who are intimidated by the aggressive acts and political manipulation of AIPAC over them all. Hopefully this move by our President will signal the end of AIPACS subversive power over us.

http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/rwp06-011

http://www.counterpunch.org/sunderland0510.html

[Wazzat]

Don't forget you can be "pro-Israel" and disagree completely with the "pro-Israel lobby". Actually that is a complete misnomer as far as I am concerned: their actions and deeds do incalculable damage to
Israel's image and reality and future. One example is their attempt to link "anti- Likud" or "anti-settlements" with anti-Israeli and "therefore" anti-semitic. Which causes what they supposedly want to avoid.

[BobLablah]

Ya, that'll do it. Now Iran will drop their nuc program and start treating women like equals.

[pragmaticdallasite]

No but that statement does more for progress toward that goal than any statement a hawk like Bush ever made. You cannot defeat hate with hate, you must defeat it with compassion.

[BobLablah]

Please provide one example where a country that hates was defeated by compassion.

[Clairvaux]

Absolutely!

The bonuses are important symbolically.

Accepting the people of the Middle East as human beings will help us create peace.

[montemalone]

Do you think anybody will film Rush's head exploding?

[TheBaffler]

It's a promising first step. Now he needs to let Israel know very clearly that they are not to provoke and intimidate Iran any further.

[MPeter]

I watched the video clip and was thrilled. Obama is a great president for these times. It is awesome to watch this guy work. It is like watching America being reborn!!!!!

[Telemachus]

Birth always involves a certain amount of screaming and some wet cleanup, too ... lest we forget. ;)

[TRYKER]

killjoy.....