Obama's Speech to the Iranian People

[Dionysus]

Smart or stupid? Strong or Weak? Winning the War or Helping the Enemy?

[Vandaler]

Addressing himself in plain speak to Iranians like he did, 3 months before they head to the polls to name a new President is interesting. Certainly a clean departure from the former Administration.

[Jamie]

Can't say I'm a fan of that speech. I liked what he had to say, but it's not a strong message to the Iranians. To me it almost came across as a parent speaking to a child.

[cds69]

Smart or stupid? Strong or Weak? Winning the War or Helping the Enemy?

Neither, neither, neither. I think the speech is completely irrelevant.

[cds69]

Addressing himself in plain speak to Iranians like he did, 3 months before they head to the polls to name a new President is interesting. Certainly a clean departure from the former Administration.

Ha ha ha.... Iranians.... head to the polls.... that's a good one.

[chadn737]

Ha ha ha.... Iranians.... head to the polls.... that's a good one.

They may elect a new president, but it doesn't really matter. What everyone forgets is that the real power in Iran is neither the President or the legislature....its Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader and the Mujtahids who make up the Assembly of Experts.

The President of Iran doesn't make a move without their approval.

[cds69]

They may elect a new president, but it doesn't really matter. What everyone forgets is that the real power in Iran is neither the President or the legislature....its Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader and the Mujtahids who make up the Assembly of Experts.

The President of Iran doesn't make a move without their approval.

And the President doesn't become President without their approval. That's the point I was making. The "election" is a sham.

[Sigfried]

I like that he did it. I think its important to establish that America wants peace and is reasonable. I don't think it will have a dramatic impact but if it is part of an ongoing process then it may have some success in improving understanding between us and the middle east. I doubt it will have any impact on Iranian leadership.

[KingOfTheEast]

Smart or Stupid?

Smart. He's coming off by distancing himself greatly with the previous administration and showing that there's more to solving problems than simply aggression and going to war. He showing that diplomacy can possibly solve conflicts and he's emphasizing the need for diplomatic relations heavily.

Strong or Weak?

I say it's somewhat weak. By cuddling up to Iran, they can simply step all over you and you wouldn't have that same leverage and advantage you once had. Let's remember that the U.S. and Iran's hostilities date back many years from the placement of the U.S. backed Shah, all the way to his eventual fall and the beginning of Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution in Iran. It's important to maintain your support for diplomatic relations and your willingness to hear the other side's proposal but to also maintain a strong outlook and a serious approach.

Keep in mind that being smart but weak is not a contradiction. It simply means you're finding more solutions diplomatically yet you aren't being aggressive in your approach and are (possibly) setting aside the capability of your military to resolve conflicts.

Winning the war or helping the enemy?

This can go either way so I'm undecided. It's difficult to make a decision of helping or hurting the war/enemy based on one speech.

[Vandaler]

They may elect a new president, but it doesn't really matter. What everyone forgets is that the real power in Iran is neither the President or the legislature....its Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader and the Mujtahids who make up the Assembly of Experts.

I know that the Iran is not a model of free democracy, but the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not assured and he is personally, because of his firebrand rhetoric, a thorn in the side of a U.S. - Iran rapprochement.

Also, a senior Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he expects the United States will begin taking steps to initiate contact with Iran, including a written overture to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, The BBC reported March 18. (1)

The message comes a week after Former two-term Iranian President Mohammed Khatami announced that he will no longer be in the race for the election, leaving the stage to Mir Hossein Mousavi, who appeals to both reformists and pragmatic conservatives.

No matter how the President is chosen, the appeal is on all fronts and the Obama Administration is trying to impress that Iran and the U.S. have many shared interest in the region and that the best route is through cooperation.

(1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7949233.stm

[KevinBrowning]

Wow, how poetic. I'm sure it will convince the terrorists to stop killing Americans. The peaceful citizens of Iran may like it, but the jihadists will not care about this speech at all, and in fact will just say it's another shallow attempt to flatter and deceive them, after many years of treachery against Allah's people by the Great Satan and the Jews.

[Sigfried]

Wow, how poetic. I'm sure it will convince the terrorists to stop killing Americans. The peaceful citizens of Iran may like it, but the jihadists will not care about this speech at all, and in fact will just say it's another shallow attempt to flatter and deceive them, after many years of treachery against Allah's people by the Great Satan and the Jews.

But it isn't a message for terrorists. You can't really talk to hardened terrorists and get them to do much of anything. What you can do is influence the reasonable people among which terrorists live and isolate them further from the general population.

[KingOfTheEast]

Wow, how poetic. I'm sure it will convince the terrorists to stop killing Americans. The peaceful citizens of Iran may like it, but the jihadists will not care about this speech at all, and in fact will just say it's another shallow attempt to flatter and deceive them, after many years of treachery against Allah's people by the Great Satan and the Jews.

Yes, because I'm sure eight more years of isolation and an aggressive approach will really help the situation. By the way, this wasn't targeted to the "jihadists", this was targeted to the Iranian government and its citizens in general on the eve of their "Newroz holiday". Those "jihadists" are heavily influenced by the Iranian government and are citizens themselves so any position the government holds has a high probability of influencing those jihadists. This entire speech was promoting diplomacy with the Iranians. The eight years of isolation and aggressive foreign policy certainly did not help, so somehow, do you really think some much needed diplomacy will really be any worse? Stop responding with hardcore partisanship ideals and start responding like a moderate.

[Dionysus]

They may elect a new president, but it doesn't really matter. What everyone forgets is that the real power in Iran is neither the President or the legislature....its Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader and the Mujtahids who make up the Assembly of Experts.

The President of Iran doesn't make a move without their approval.

Further to this point: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/...ama/index.html

[Vandaler]

Further to this point: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/...ama/index.html

Hardly surprising and from an Iranian point of view; It is true that for the moment, little has changed but the tone of the new Administration.

The narrative remain the same; Abandon any future aim for a militarized nuclear program and stop supporting terrorism in exchange of a lifting of economic sanctions. However, when sanctions are not very effective, this is a very high strategic price to pay for Iran.

Merely having a nuclear program provides Iran with a great lever for all kinds of negotiations just like North Korea has. Iran has advantage to only let go of that program for something of substance. Iran is getting exactly what it wants, disproportionate world attention and considerable leverage. Why should it stop... It will continue to be ambiguous enough to provoke some anxiety while not going as far as provoking an attack unto itself.