A grand opportunity for strategic rapprochement with Iran is at hand. I explicitly make analogy to China in terms of how a relationship with Iran – including dealing with any threat to Israel/Taiwan – could be made to work. As will often be the case, Obama’s ace in the hole is Joe Biden.
Since the ODS-afflicted Right is already talking about impeaching Obama, he might as well surrender in dhimmitude to Iran now than later.
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So here’s the plan:
Send Biden to Iraq so they can divide it into three countries and send Jimmy Carter to Iran to negotiate the surrender of Israel.
Sorry, only kidding.
One thing I hope Obama does is keep Robert Gates as secretary of defense. Not only has he done a great job, he has also co-authored (along with Zbigniew Brzezinski) a report encouraging a break with current US policy and start an engagement with Iran on issues of mutual consern.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/7194/
Only Nixon could go to China because he was so well known as an anti-Communist that no one could credibly accuse him of being soft on Communism for talking to them.
Obama is completely lacking in that regard when it comes to Iran. Rather than going from a position of strength, dealing with Iran would instantly confirm Obama as a surrender-monkey.
"Since the ODS-afflicted Right is already talking about impeaching Obama, he might as well surrender in dhimmitude to Iran now than later."
Weak way to start the post-election reconciliation process. Nobody who posts here (I bet) have heard of this obscure fringe group, and (I bet), nobody on this blog (or any sane person) thinks talk about Obama is a good idea. It is, in fact, a stupid idea.
Nice strawman, Aziz.
As for the prior point, Yes, not a bad strategy.
HankB
Hasn’t Dave Price talked about an Obama impeachment here on the front page?
Haank B, it’s called "humor". Also, the driving force behind that is the famous blogger at Atlas Shrugs. Who deserves my mockery – and yours.
Agreed about Gates, and thanks for that link – will def check that out, redux!
I don’t often agree with Aziz so thoroughly, but in this case I think he’s dialed it in pretty tightly. As a non-Obama supporter I still can look at him and see what opportunities his administration presents in situations like the relationship with Iran.
I do have to agree with Phelps, though- neither Obama nor Biden has the chops to equate to Nixon going to China. I’d be thinking another elder statesman, maybe a GHW Bush, Colin Powell or even Bill Clinton, so long as they approach with a) a clear mandate from Obama to go and b) an olive branch in one hand and a club in the other.
Oh, and if it is GHW Bush, lots of Pepto Bismol, just in case…
I’d like the Nixon analogy better if the claim were that only someone with Obama’s anti-war credentials could stand tough against Iran’s government without being tarred as a warmonger.
The self-delusion of an Obama regime is already growing…
As Phelps said, Nixon could go to China because Nixon had always voiced and advocated a hard line with China. Obama has sent signals of weakness. Obama won’t "go" to Iran, he will be summoned.
CosmicConservative’s last blog post..A beautiful new day?
Aziz,
Well, humor is good — I, for one, am filled with mirth!
Go McCain!HB
p.s. The Bush hater crowd oughta be thankin’ the man for all the heavy lifting he’s done on the WOT and in Iraq.
Iran is not our enemy.
Sure, except for their whole governing philosophy being based on hatred of Western freedoms.
Obama’s ace in the hole is Joe Biden.
Yep, he can accidentally insult the Prophet and cause anti-American riots in Tehran. That will help.
Iran is perhaps the best-suited Islamic country for genuine, organic democratic change.
I’m sorry, this is very poorly thought-out. The mullahs will not give up power democratically; it isn’t even possible in their form of government, where clerics rule the elected officials. You don’t appear to understand the hierarchy of the Iranian government.
If there is regime change in Iran, it will almost certainly be violent. Sorry.
nation and a civilization in its own right, one which expressed interest in closer ties with the US and whose people expressed genuine sympathy in the wake of the 9-11 attacks, but was rewarded for its olive branch by being named as part of the Axis of Evil by President Bush
Sure, just because they’re the world’s foremost terrorist-sponsoring state. So unfair of Bush to not roll out the red carpet.Â
So, I’m curious Aziz, what would be our response, under this arrangement, to another shower of Iranian missiles onto Israel? What would be our policy towards Hizbollah and their civil war in Lebanon? What would we do about the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and the Iranian Qods terrorists being arrested there nearly every day?
I guess the idea is, we’ll say nice things to them and they’ll start behaving like civilized people. Lots of luck with that.
Hasn’t Dave Price talked about an Obama impeachment here on the front page?
If Obama has committed crimes worthy of impeachment — and I cited evidence he may be under investigation by the FBI for bribery.
Is bribery not an impeachable offense? Last I checked, it was.
That said, a petition now seems premature.
fostering stronger ties with Iran across the board will result in liberalization of their society and ultimately a rejection of authoritarian control.
That much I agree with. To the extent we can do this without granting an iota of legitimacy or strength to a terrorist theocratic regime, we should.
We should defintely not be helping them with things like oil infrastructure or refineries, though.
I’m sorry, this is very poorly thought-out.
Aziz’s arguments almost always are.
You don’t appear to understand the hierarchy of the Iranian government.
Well, if understanding the subject he was writing about was a requirement before Aziz set pen to paper he’d have to completely give up blogging!
Haank B, it’s called "humor"
Once again Aziz makes a sneering, contempt-filled, RDS-inspired (Republican derangement syndrome) comment and when caught on it says "I was just making a joke". I’m sure the Israelis had a good chuckle about his blood libel years back, he was just funnin’!
By the way, Spiro Agnew was hounded from office and would have been impeached over a tiny bribe from a milk company that happened well before he became VP…
…. just sayin’….
CosmicConservative’s last blog post..A beautiful new day?
I don’t recall any milk company… I do recall Agnew resigning because of tax fraud though..
During his fifth year as Vice President, in the late summer 1973, Agnew was under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Baltimore, Maryland, on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery, and conspiracy. In October, he was formally charged with having accepted bribes totaling more than $100,000, while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, governor of Maryland, and Vice President of the United States. On October 10, 1973, Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report $29,500 of income received in 1967, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice President.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew
Maybe nothing will come of Obama’s Rezko problem. But it’s hardly deranged to raise the possibility it will lead to impeachment.
man, CC, you just taught me something. I wasted ten minutes on Wikipedia just now. Fascinating tidbit, but of course you know how it goes with Wikipedia…
Iran may not be our enemy….
but our being Iran’s enemy is official policy, and beyond Obama’s control.
We are "The Great Satan". I don’t see how that can change so long as the Khomeini-lovers remain in power.
My personal reason is that Iran is on the list of countries where my religion carries the death penalty.
My personal reason is that Iran is on the list of countries where my religion carries the death penalty.
Why do you bring that inconvenient truth up about Iran (and many other Muslim countries) you ISLAMOPHOBE!!!!11111!!!
I kid but it’s the commonly-used bullying tactic used by the author of this piece.
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