Iran: Talk Tough With Tehran

good point. However, we simply decree to Iran, If a nuke is found on our soil or detonated we will assume your dirty hands had something to do with it. In turn we level your flea-bitten entire country. That would lead me to think that it would be in their best interests to actually make sure we are safe. I know this is not proper policy or realistic but it seems that the back and forth banter with these people has gone nowhere. Maybe Obama will make some progress since Bush acting like the usual 12 year old refused to even talk with them. If all else fails Isreal will probably anihilate them at some point anyway.

DrewCAENG, Would we blow them back to the Stoneage before or after they have shared their nukes with every terrorist group on earth? There's a tendacy to think we're safe because the Iranians, Indians, Israel and Pakistan have only limited range of delivery. Could you imagine a dozen or so terrorist groups all attempting to smuggle a nuclear bomb in to a U.S? Port. How many would get through? If someone wanted to stab you, would you hand them a gun?

Why not let the Iranians have all the nukes they want? Who are we to tell people what they can and cant have while we have every weapon under the sun? Yes, Ahmadinejad is a nutter and his constant remarks and cheesy jackets just make you want to punch the guy but we all know he has no power. We simply tell Tehran have all the nukes you want but be careful who you point them at or give them to becasue at the very hint of a launch or sale we will blow your country back to the stone age. Problem solved.

So did you just finish reading "The Persian Puzzle" by Ken Pollack? Because this article looks like a book report written by a high school freshman who didnt quiet get it...

Why doesnt the world ask israel to return some of the nukes they got from the US? Why no carrots and sticks there?

Please read the last 5 postings in reverse order for them to make sense.

5) Two point on the "carrot and stick" diplomacy: Firstly that this is not the first time this kind of tyrannical policy has been tried (refer to the history of Great Britain Vs. almost all the countries that constituted it's empire as just ONE example). I wonder how that worked for them! Secondly, I take great offence to this term being used simply because of its inherent lack of human connotations. Iranians are a rightly proud and worthy, dignified nation. We do not merit your carrots nor your sticks. Treat us with the humanity and common courtesy that all humans deserve and keep your carrots for yourself. As for the stick, well, the time has long passed when we were afraid of your sticks. Perhaps Iran may not be able to war with the U.S. (how many countries can?) but it is FAR from helpless and defenseless. It has, and will not hesitate to use other means of resistance and has no need for nuclear weapons in order to do so. It has something much more potent - A religion that glorifies martyrdom. So I do not recommend trying to use the stick, for it will end up being shoved up where the sun can't shine on your progress and that is to no one's benefit.

4- Iran and Iranians are not mute ingorants, but patient, aware observers, who if quiet are only so for fear of their very existence. But given their past history with the West, would it be any wonder if the day comes (and it seems it is coming) when even the patient say enough is enough, and react. After all, "Blessed are the meek,"(are they not?) "for they shall inherit the earth". If the U.S. truly wants peace in the region, it is high time that it either: A) "walks the talks" and regain its international respect and dignity by treating all countries equally with respect and not employ double standards (at least as blatantly as it has been doing) especially with Israel - The Israelis have been given permission to have an active covert nuclear weapons programme for at least 25 years. So where is the international outcry there? OR B) Leave the region to its own devices and let us handle our own affairs. The latter is the best option, for it would not only save the rest of the world untold amounts of money by not having to police the region, and enter into unnecessary wars in which young American (not to mention other nationalities') are killed but also it would help restore the West's image throughout the world. Furthermore, isn't it a bit arrogant and presumptuous to think that we "Sand ***" (Yes, I have been called that by Americans on many occasions) are incapable of handling our own issues? Have we not been living there for thousands of years in relative peace and prosperity - just take a look at the First Charter of Human Rights which, incidentally, was written AND implemented by the Iranians, or Persians as they were known at the time? Was it not the Persians who invented and implemented for the first time in the world the system of Federal Government 2,500 years ago -(which the U.S. and others are still utilizing)?

3- History has shown us what the real face of the U.S. looks like: Everyone has heard of 9/11/01. But how many people have heard of the ORIGINAL 9/11 which occurred in 1973 in Chile, and was branded as "The Day Democracy Died in Chile" by the BBC? (Do a simple search on the internet by typing the date if you don't believe me). How many people have been allowed to know the U.S. involvement in the affair in which the CIA forcefully deposed a democratically elected president (Salvadore Allende) only to replace him with a tyrant dictator and mass murderer - General Augusto Pinochet? OR how many people have heard of the U.S. & Co.'s interference in Iran's (the first country in the Middle East to strive for democracy) Democratization under the Premier Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq? Consider:
a) "Mosaddeq was removed from power on 19 August 1953, in a coup d'état, supported and funded by the British and U.S. governments and led by General Fazlollah Zahedi. The American operation came to be known as Operation Ajax in America, after its CIA cryptonym, and as the "28 Mordad 1332" coup in Iran, after its date on the Iranian calendar. Mosaddeq was imprisoned for three years and subsequently put under house arrest until his death". (Wikipedia)
b) "In March 2000, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated her regret that Mosaddeq was ousted: "The Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons. But the coup was clearly a setback for Iran???s political development and it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America." (Wikipedia)
It was at this time that began to implement their "Rule or Ruin" policy in the Middle East - a policy that has been paying them unbridled dividends ever since - not just in Iran.

1- What "EXACTLY" are U.S. interests in the region, and what right does the U.S. have to ANY interest in ANY region (other than their own)? What has given the U.S. the false belief that they have the right to interfere with the sovereignty of other countries?
2- As is widely known, even though Iran is one of the world's leading producers of oil and natural gas, (according to this very article) 43% of its gas is imported and at least the same of its refined petroleum based products because of lack of infrastructure and technology (which the U.S. and Co. conveniently had Saddam Hussein destroy in the imposed, futile 8-year war with Iran, and which the U.S. & Co. have not allowed the Iranians to rebuild or have rebuilt by slapping so many unjust and unjustifiable sanctions on Iran (after all, as an Iranian, I haven't seen any of the clergy suffering, only the people, while on the contrary, the clergy are still getting fatter and fatter!) via it's pet organization, i.e. The U.N. Taking this into account, is it any wonder that the Iranian regime wants nuclear energy to ensure that at least internal demand for energy is met without having to bow down to those who are kind enough to export to us the very thing that we send to them, but at 10 times the price? Also, is it any wonder that any new constructions of vital facilities and "reconstructions" (Iran had an active nuclear programme under the Shah's rule with the blessing of the U.S and Co. which was also destroyed in the war) is carried out underground - literally and figuratively, to thwart future attacks on them?

Any discussion of nuclear deterrance in this region has to start with the issue of Israel posessing a significant nuclear arsenal while we invade it's neighbors on the mere rumor of any WMD.
If we disarm Israel of any nuclear capability the surrounding states will have no need for nuclear detante. If we provide (trade for vast amounts of oi) light-water reactors to Iran and a few others we will remove their other rationale for nuclear development. Providing a light-water reactor to North Korea (as we agreed to do long ago) would accomplish the same with the additional humanitarian benefit of easing the suffering of the North Korean population.

Ross is forgetful of inconvenient truths. The Iranians already scorn the Saudis,do a roaring business trade with the EU nations,[especially Germany] as well as China,and feel with some [actually much] justification that the Russians have their backs,made more concrete by trade missions between the two nations. Putin views Iran as ally,and will be pulling Medvedevs strings to cement such a relationship. The Caspian pipeline can and will nullify American pressure on Irans oil supplies allowing capital to continue flowing to Tehran. The Euros,as ever,will adopt go-along-to-get-along policies,and somewhere in the center of all of this, Iran will present the world with its show of its new nuclear weapons. How we will deal with this ''terrible outcome''will be up to Obama. How others,including Israel will deal with it is unknown.

???Sarah Palin haters???, I think people who use that phrase are missing the point. It really isn???t hatred; it is disgust, disgust with her many faults and her brazenness and surprise and disgust first with John McCain for bringing her out of obscurity and now with those who are trying to make her their next puppet to pick up where GWBush left off. There is where the fault really lies. One individual stated they didn???t think she was a sociopathic personality because she had meaningful relationships but, as McCain discovered, it is apparent she just uses relationships for her advantage. They also felt she deserved credit for having her DS baby instead of aborting yet there is the question, does she deserve credit when she constantly uses the baby as a prop, soliciting sympathy and recognition, and then just handing it off? No, those along with all of her other self-focused characteristics, especially the lack of any conscience, strongly suggest she really fits the sociopathic category and would be a real disaster in any national office (as the sociopathic GWBush has been). Personally, I think she is a sick and sad case and simply wish that she would fade away. George W Bush has proven to be the worst President this country has ever had and we need to remember all of it in order to recognize and reject anyone else who is similar ??? Sarah Palin is a cut from the same mold! The Republican Party can do better and we need to demand that they do so.

Dennis Ross should be applauded for what he does not say: Regime Change. Instead he is talking about behavior modification. This mix of realism and sanity is most welcome.

A word of caution however. A total disengagement must precede any substantive engagement. It is difficult, because the U.S. cannot live without the middle east just as Iran cannot help but to live within it. A rush to engagement will put angst mongers on both sides driving policy into a wall, just as implacable hostilities have currently magnified voices of realists.

http://www.bibijon.org/iranimage/

I don't know why people still see the world in terms of nation states. It is the US and other corporations in China that are benefiting all that flow of oil from Iran to China. Stop that financing by making HSBC and the like to choose between trading in US or Iran, and you will see changes.

Until Americans accept that U.S. interests are not the same as Israel???s there will be no ???change???. Until Americans realize that Washington???s blind support for Israel is the root cause of much of today???s turmoil in the Middle East and beyond, the world can expect more of the same.

Dennis Ross thinks he can make his unsubstantiated allegations against Iran stick simply by hiding behind the word ???clearly???. No country???s nuclear program has been scrutinized more vigorously than Iran???s; no country has gone beyond the NPT???s requirements to allow inspections than has Iran; no country has voluntarily suspended its enrichment program for nearly two years as has Iran.

Already the Bush administration and the Israelis are bringing a number of unelected Arab governments into a de facto anti-Iran alliance in a bid to serve Israeli aims in the region. If Dennis Ross gets the job of Middle East special envoy in the Obama team it will be the death knell for any hopes of "change". The Israel lobby is promoting Mr. Ross for the job and with good reason: his column in Newsweek column could have been written by any rightwing Israeli official.