saturday, march 21, 2009
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President Obama's Iranian Love Bombs...

are they reaching the target? From his first television interview with Al-Jazerra shortly after taking office, to yesterday's reach-out to Tehran for the Iranian new year, the president has made clear his clean break with the BushCheney strategy of intimidation and threat. His skill at addressing Iranian national pride, and his clear intent to deal from a position of mutual respect takes enormous political courage in an environment that regards Iran as a pariah state. But is the Obama love campaign working? As this morning's BBC world report indicates, Grand Ayatollah Ali Kamenei's response shows diplomatic ineptitude at best, and determination to remain in self-destruct mode at worst. For as former president Clinton said in an interview last year, "the day Iran chooses to use its' nuclear capability against its' neighbor Israel, would be its' last good day." It has often been said of the Palestinian leadership, and of Hamas in particular, that "they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." Maybe it is the influence of Hamas on Iran that we should be worried about, rather than the other way around.BBC NEWS Middle East Iran demands change in US policy

As a citizen observer, without access to the circles of power in which the world's future unfolds, one can only hope that the Ayatollahs are as rational in private as they are belicose in public. For the fifty years of the U.S. / U.S.S.R. cold war, the world hoped and believed that "the Russians" as they were called in the conversations of American citizens, were fundamentally rational people and not bent on mutual suicide over ideology. The U.S. policy toward the Soviets in those days, as concocted by Dr. Strangelove...er, Kissinger, was one of "mutually assured destruction." And it is true that one pillar of that policy was based on President Nixon's covert attempts to convince the other side that he was emotionally unstable, and that his willingness to push the button should not be doubted.

Needless to say, the 'MAD' policy was not a public relations success. Most Americans refused to believe that their future and the future of the world was dependent on the whims of madmen. During these decades, citizen-to-citizen communication initiatives became increasingly common, eventually overcoming the efforts of the propagandists to portray the other side as an implacable enemy.

So let it be with the people of Iran. The false enemy of the political right has been defeated; at least for the moment. A window of opportunity has opened, and will remain open for a minimum of four years and probably a good bit longer. Enough time to come to terms with "the Great Satan" in a manner that allows the brighter future for Iran that is longed for and deserved by her long-suffering people.

DHL