To Prevent War, Give Iran One Last Chance: Jeffrey Goldberg

[Rhiannon12866]

Three years ago, President Barack Obama came into office with a very good idea: He would reach out to the mullahs in Iran to see whether they were interested in rethinking their hate-based relationship with the U.S.

So Obama, despite criticism from Republicans, wrote private letters to the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and made a public appeal for a fresh start.

“In this season of new beginnings, I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders,” Obama said in a message broadcast in early 2009. “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.”

When the Iranian people rose up later that year, Obama only tepidly endorsed them, and he was measured in his criticism of the vicious manner in which the Iranian leadership suppressed the protests. He may have been motivated partly by an assessment that the uprising wouldn’t succeed, and that the U.S. would still have to grapple with the Iranian theocracy. His approach was neither morally nor emotionally satisfying, but it showed a certain cold logic.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/to-prevent-war-give-iran-one-last-chance-commentary-by-jeffrey-goldberg.html

[SixthSense]

1. To prevent war

stop attacking every country in the middle east!!

They've got this war lined up and ready to go

They don't even pretend to consult us

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Sound familiar?

:(

[SixthSense]

3. feels like a flashback

this is Iraq all over again

I guess they figured the script worked so well the first time why not give it another go

[Rhiannon12866]

5. And the American public is sure ready for more of this...

My cousin, who's a West point graduate, said about Iraq that we didn't learn the lessons of Vietnam. It's a mistake to wage a war unless the people support it. Iraq has been bad enough. Iran is much larger and more populous and they may have nukes... x(

[No Elephants]

7. People can be made to support war, though, at least for a while.

That's the beauty of propaganda and corporate media.

For the run up to Iraq, it was not even subtle, but it worked. Not with everyone, but enough at least at first.

Seems to me that the people turn against war when it seems we are just mired in it indefinitely and no one is winning or losing. Then they start to wonder what the heck the point is.

But, by then, we are already enmired and our leaders do not seem to have the wherewithal to just leave.

If they did that, how could they possibly justify the havoc they've wreaked, including the loss of life and limb on all sides? And, if they cannot justify that, how they can possibly get people to sign up to go to war?

I guess I'm saying that people supporting a war is not a good measure. We're too easily led and too easily confused. I bet a significant amount of the U.S. population TODAY would say there was some connection between Saddam or Iraq, on the one hand, and 911.

[dtexdem]

4. To prevent war, don't go to a war of choice.

Iran will bluster against the sanctions. The U.S. doesn't need to bluster. The WH doesn't need to bluster unless it wants a war -- one that the U.S. doesn't need.

Dubya committed sufficient war crimes to last us for the next century. ;-)

[Rhiannon12866]

6. I couldn't agree more.

Sounds like the continuation of "The Bush* Doctrine" to me, in that respect, Charlie... ;) x(

As I said in the post above, we never learned the lessons of Vietnam. ;(