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So I don't get it. All I hear from the Right Wing of the Republican party is that these "people" want to kill us all, and yet we're hosting their teams for a little one on one?

Perhaps someone should mention this to Bush's speech writers before the next State of the Union Address.

Quote:

Basketball diplomacy: USA and Iran
Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 6:41 PM PT
By Ali Kermalli and Robert Windrem, NBC News

When is a basketball game not just a basketball game? When an NBA team plays an Iranian team in, of all places, Salt Lake City.

Call it the ‘Dunking for Diplomacy’ tour.

Later this month, at Salt Lake City Community College, six NBA teams will gather to play a series of exhibition games. In addition to the hometown Utah Jazz, there’ll be rookie teams representing the Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors, New Jersey Nets and San Antonio Spurs along with the Islamic Republic of Iran. That's right, round ballers from the last member of George Bush's 'Axis of Evil' will battle the Jazz and the Mavs in games scheduled for mid-July. As it turns out, the Iranians--Asian league champs--are competing in the Olympics in Beijing, starting August 10, and thought they’d throw down first with a little b-ball against America’s finest, the NBA.

So how did this happen…and why?

Sports events historically have been used to thaw the diplomatic ice. In 1972, "ping pong diplomacy" paved the way for President Nixon’s historic visit China. More recently, North Korea's Tae Kwon Do team performed in the United States, as one of the steps towards improving North Korea-U.S. relations.
So is this just “ping-pong diplomacy” with a larger ball?

The NBA won’t reveal much. Brian McIntyre, the NBA’s Senior Vice President of Basketball Communications, said the Islamic Republic of Iran Basketball Federation (IRIBF) called to say it was interested in playing its national team in a game or two against an NBA team on the way to Beijing. A summer-league tournament would be fine, the Iranians said.

McIntyre said the league called the State Department to ask what to do. After all, the U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Iran. And recent news reports have suggested Iran may be trying to build nuclear weapons. Then, there are possible plans by the U.S. or Israel to take military action to prevent that from happening. The State Department, which is all in favor of people-to-people (or in this case, player-to-player) relations, encouraged the idea, McIntyre said.

And so the NBA approached the Jazz, which sponsors the Rocky Mountain Revue, a summer basketball league for NBA hopefuls, top rookies, other young but unproven players and vets looking for another chance. Jazz owner Larry Miller agreed to the contests.

The NBA and State Department understand, McIntyre said, how important "sports diplomacy" is to building relationships between nations. But there are hints that the Jazz may not be fully embracing the love-thy-neighbor concept. On the Utah Jazz website, the team lists the Rocky Mountain Revue participants by name. All except for Iran, which is described simply as "the 2007 FIBA Asian Champion." The word "Iran" is not mentioned on the team's announcement or the schedule. A Jazz official had no comment.

Despite the low-key publicity, the Iranians will be playing at 2:15 p.m. on July 19th against Dallas, and at 7 p.m. on July 21st against Utah.

U.S. officials believe that the request came from the highest levels in Iran, and is part of an attempt by Iran to tamp down tensions between the two countries. In fact, Iranian officials told NBC News that hardliners in the Islamic Republic opposed the overture. But moderates in the Iranian government prevailed. The Iranian officials said that moderates in the government have been trying to set something like this up for two years. Iranian officials add that the basketball team is already in the U.S. training for the games.

And, by the way, he added, so is the Iranian national ping-pong team.

Mitt Romney doing Ping-Pong diplomacy

From someone (me) not in the right wing of the republican party I'd say that the vast majority of right wing republicans probably don't have issues with the Iranian people.

Its not the Iranian people arming and financing terrorism for the past 30 years. Its not the Iranian people trying to develop nukes. It is the whackjobs like Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollahs.

I'd love to see some of the Iranian people and athletes come to the US. I'd love to see the Iranian government come back into the wprld as a partner. I'd really love to see another revolution over there and a true democracy by the people come around...

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnR (Post 603151)

Its not the Iranian people arming and financing terrorism for the past 30 years. Its not the Iranian people trying to develop nukes. It is the whackjobs like Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollahs.

You mean those wackos in Southern Afghanistan that have been fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban for the past 15 years?
Or the Northern Alliance who is also supplied with arms and support by us and who we've had talks about with the Iranians even now?

Going after Iran is suicide.
We lose their support in Afghanistan we lose Afghanistan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnR (Post 603151)

I'd love to see some of the Iranian people and athletes come to the US.

Me too.

Competitive sports allow for some dialouge between the competitors and their fans.

It's a start.

The olympics has always been an example of people coming together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnR (Post 603151)

It is the whackjobs like Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollahs.

Actually, Ahmadinejad has pushed the Mullah's towards more moderation, and ultimately they hold most of the cards. The President of Iran doesn't have all that much real power.

-spence

I believe the whackjob title John bestowed on him comes from his speeches on the Holocaust as hoax and other little ditties

Quote:

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY (Post 603294)

I believe the whackjob title John bestowed on him comes from his speeches on the Holocaust as hoax and other little ditties

I'm not sure if he's a real nut or just gaming the system.

Iran may be lead by those believing in the return of the 12th Imam, and don't care about the welfare of the Iranian people, henceforth a nuke is needed to destroy the Zionist state and start world war three...

or...they're just using the choas in Iraq to avoid an American attack while they build a nuke to get ahead of Saudia Arabia in the Middle Eastern arms race.

If it's the latter, then we really need to engage somehow and get them vested in the global community.

If it's the former, then Bush's Iraq policy may ultimately help along the destruction of Isreal and the radiation of much of the Earth's oil and natural gas.

Considering many think that Iran was really the neocon target from day one, we would have been much better off arming Saddam and letting him loose on his old enemy!

-spence