Quote:
Originally Posted by spence
Certainly the US and Iranian leadership differ on many values, but I think we've become mistakenly tuned to this idea that Iran's policy is driven by an irrational group of clerics and as such any effort to engage will only legitimize irrationality. Sure, Iran wants to be stronger but I don't believe they want to defeat the West. Hell, remember just after 9/11 they were actively engaged in helping the US target the Taliban as it was a shared interest.
This attitude will certainly just make things worse. Like it or not Iran is and will always be a significant component stability or chaos in the Middle East. Disengagement over the past 30 years doesn't seem to have helped and in fact has likely made things worse.
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"we've become mistakenly tuned to this idea that Iran's policy is driven by an irrational group of clerics...Sure, Iran wants to be stronger but I don't believe they want to defeat the West "
There you have it...
From the mouth of President Ahmadinejad...
""Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom.” "
"Ahmadinejad, who has called the Holocaust a myth, has previously called for Israel's annihilation, in a 2005 speech in which he used a Persian phrase that translates literally as "wiped off the page of time."
http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/...ihilate-Israel
He also called the 9/11 attacks "a "big lie intended to serve as a pretext for fighting terrorism and setting the grounds for sending troops to Afghanistan,"
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/...tan/index.html
And the Iranian mullahs support the notion of stoning women to death, and executing homosexuals.
Nope, according to Spence, there is nothing the least bit irrational going on in Iran. No reason to be concerned if they get a nuke. So Obama was right to sit on his hands over the whole thing, and therefore deserves a second Nobel Peace Prize.