McCain, Graham: Dead Wrong About Obama Approach On Iran
posted by: Aaron Pendell 165 days ago
Republican efforts to paint Barack Obama as weak regarding events in Iran are entirely wrongheaded. Two senators in particular, John McCain (R - AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R - SC ) have been "pressing the idiot button," as MSNBC's Chris Matthews calls it, calling for Obama to strengthen his message against the corrupt Iranian election and to publicly encourage the protesters.
The criticism from McCain, Graham, and others is illustrative of at least two truths: One is their ability to display a profound ignorance of the complicated political landscape within Iran. The other is a reminder of the fact that the GOP is no longer the disciplined political entity it once was.
Here is McCain on Face the Nation Sunday, June 21:
Lindsey Graham made similar comments on This Week that same day:
McCain and Graham seem to desire the cowboy diplomacy of the George W. Bush years, asserting that Obama is being too cautious on Iran. However, a return to the diplomatic belligerence of the previous administration would be a disaster. It would play directly into the hands of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei whose harsh response to the persistent protests is presently serving to loosen his grip on Iran's political reigns.
In the most recent issue of TIME, Joe Klein wrote of his recent 10 day visit to Iran. Quoting a prominent Iranian conservative, Klein imparts the stark political reality within the Islamic republic:
Look, for the past 30 years, the Supreme Leader — first Khomeini, now Khamenei — has blamed all our problems on the Great Satan... If you take away the Great Satan and we still have problems, how does he explain it? Almost everyone here is in favor of ending this war with America. But no one has less incentive to make peace than the Supreme Leader.
This reality, perhaps, reveals the motives behind the apparent fraudulent election in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was technically reelected despite the popularity of Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Ahmadinejad continuing as the Iranian president contributes to Khamenei's maintenance of the status-quo. An inflammatory statement from Obama would only serve to further entrench the regime.
You need not take my word for it that what McCain and Graham have suggested was, and remains, diplomatically stupid. Just as divisions within the GOP have been evident on several issues since Obama's inauguration, again it has been Republicans who have stepped up to support Obama's approach on Iran. The most significant support came from Richard Lugar (R - IN), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
Additionally, Media Matters and The Nation, among others this week, have posted about conservative media figures acknowledging the Obama administration's shrewd approach on Iran. Most notably, Peggy Noonan, former speech writer for president Reagan, described pushers of the idiot button as political opportunists in her June 19 Wall Street Journal column:
This was Aggressive Political Solipsism at work: Always exploit events to show you love freedom more than the other guy, always make someone else's delicate drama your excuse for a thumping curtain speech.
Aside from the above mentioned reasons for Obama to avoid a direct challenge or subversion of the Iranian leadership, it seems apparant that he doesn't have to for the protesters to know where Americans stand on their plight. Thanks is large part to the historic role of online social networking in the Iranian protests, the demonstrators are no doubt acutely aware that, not just Americans, but that the entire world supports them in their efforts.
Read more: bush, iran, politics, gop, senator, mccain, republican, ahmadinejad, obama, diplomacy, barack obama, lindsey graham, john mccain, foreign policy, mousavi, richard lugar, mccain on iran, iranian election, iran protests, khamenei
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On June 13 the Whitehouse said: Like the rest of the world, we were impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians. We continue to monitor the entire situation closely, including reports of irregularities. On June 23 Obama said, "And the fact that they are now in the midst of an extraordinary debate taking place in Iran, you know, may end up coloring how they respond to the international community as a whole." The answer to what the consequenes should be was that the international community would bear witness and that that would shape the tone for Irans future. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN? Does anyone besides Obama and the whitehouse think we're watching a DEBATE? People are dying. And it's not true that violence is not used to stabalize nations. After the violent stabolization of Germany and Italy and Japan democracies were IMPOSED as forms of government for the stabalization of the International Community. Imposed by Britain and America. I know Obama's no Winston Churchill, but what kind of a leader is he?
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obama is weak - even Donald Trump said we are a laughingstock to the rest of the world. Why all of a sudden after he came into office do you see all these things coming out of the woodwork coming out against us? If George Bush were in office, it would be his fault, of course, but I'm sure in your eyes obama has nothing to do with it. No, if George Bush were still in office, these things probably wouldn't be happening at all.
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Elsewhere I had stated just the other day, I have never been a witness to solution of any conflict, domestic, national or international through belligerence. If belligerence was the mantra that was the answer to most problems of diplomacy, the Creator would, perhaps, not have given us humans the grey matter that enables rationality in our behaviour.
Intervention, with force, has succeeded only when there was concurrence with those affected adversely in any given situation, their cause is real and they have ability to sustain themselves without outside military support. Otherwise, the interventionists tend to undo the cause of those who they launched out to help. Experiences of American intervention in Vietnam, Russians in Afghanistan, China in its conflict with Vietnam, Indian peacekeepers in Sri Lanka and US, once again, in Iraq are the examples that emphatically suggest the thought and caution that is needed before adventurism can be resorted to. It is lamentable that Iraq misadventure was undertaken misguiding the American (and allied) people at the expense of the fully justified anti-terror war in Afghanistan stretching American military unnecessarily resulting in success in Afghanistan proving elusive while US attempts an honourable withdrawal from Iraq.
Under the circumstances, opening yet another front against Iran will not only, once again, imperil the American reputation but also erode the moral pedestal that America, the most inclusive of the democracies as I
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Last night Oprah's show featured teens struggling with obesity. There was a part where the teens let their anger out and I'm sure not many could realize how I could relate to that. I went through it in life. The biggest thing that these obese teens were angered about is that nobody could understand that they were human beings. I bring this up with this subject because these news articles like this one completely ignores the fact we're dealing with human beings. It's fine to believe in rights and freedom but the bottom line is it's still human beings that really ought to be important, not taking sides with issues. We're doing that so much in the US that I have to wonder where's this getting us? Life is not getting better here especially with wars started with only accusations of what's wrong with those we make enemies of. When will it be time to look at our own evils instead of others? When will we ever get to the point of making human beings important instead of issues and opinions that distract from real solutions we might face?
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You are entitled to your opinion about what you see right or wrong about me and the rest of the world. Consider this though. I had a daughter who was bullied at school at age twelve. For seven years or until she was nineteen when she committed suicide I put my all into trying to encourage her to want to live. That is an entirely different type of experience than you have ever been through, Robert. So my line of reasoning does not, nor will it ever for as long as I live, ever include focusing on judgments of the evils of others. As your hero Bush branded Iran and others evil so did those that bullied my daughter. I watched that stupid type of behavior kill not only her body but also her spirit. It killed her trust in other human beings. I lived that and experienced seeing the true evil is someone like you that preaches and follows others that see everything as evil in your own minds and then try to sell your evil sightings to others cause your to cowardly to try to make things right in life. From being a father who went through encouraging and doing what I believed was right for my children deeply embedded in me a thinking that life is not about making myself right by making others wrong. Females do that. Life is about making all of mankind right by earning trust and respect. Branding others as evil doesn't earn trust and respect plus your hero bullied which is a definite sign of insecurity displaying his winning by intimidation principles.
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Sad, Ken.
So its unmanly to make a statement against evil but masculine to coddle those practice it.
Mind you, I'm not talking about Obama and arguing the global impact of his words, I'm talking about you only having words of defense to those that beat and stone and kill and do it in the name of God.
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One of the things I hope that I can make myself very clear on is that of the role of a male in life. Before we had words there were only two differences with humans. Some of us were put in female bodies and some of us were put in male bodies. I believe in reasoning and decision making from that point. After enough relationship failures, including a marriage, my search for what was going wrong ended up finding out that the main reason for those failures was that males deny females their masculinity. Simply put we males give females nothing to feel secure about by not becoming men. Not only Bush but presidents like Clinton and just about all of those before them denied the world their masculinity. Even McCain displayed his lack of masculinity in the primary debate when he kept making an issue about how Romney wasn't a conservative. Ron Paul and Huckabe said "We're here too." McCain's childish behavior was all anybody could pay attention to. So when I bring up childish behavior that I've seen from my children and females in my life, it doesn't show masculinity. Our country is in enough trouble with that lack of masculinity. Even Obama didn't grow up with a father so to me he doesn't even show it. If he did he know enough not to take sides on issues like this. His words are only going to hurt him.
Bush had a clear dysfunctional behavior that nobody in this country knew how to stand up to and Ahmadinejad did. Making others look wrong is used to discredit them and is unmanly.
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Finally!! (via AP / MSNBC)
President Barack Obama scoffed at the idea that he should apologize..and said Friday it was President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who must answer to his own people...
Keeping pressure on Iran's rulers, Obama emphasized the rights of the people there.
"Their bravery in the face of brutality is a testament to their enduring pursuit of justice," "The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous. In spite of the government's efforts to keep the world from bearing witness to that violence, we see it and we condemn it."
He said Mousavi had captured the spirit and imagination of the Iranian people who want a more free society. And he dismissed statements by Ahmadinejad, who on Thursday compared Obama to Bush. Obama said he is not meddling in Iran's affairs but rather calling for principles recognized around the world.
"A government that treats its own citizens with that kind of ruthlessness and violence and that cannot deal with peaceful protesters who are trying to have their voices heard in an equally peaceful way have moved outside of universal norms — international norms — that are important to uphold,"
The Iranian leader has told Obama to "show your repentance." Obama said he doesn't take such statements seriously.
"He might want to consider looking at the families of those beaten or shot or detained," Obama said. "That's where Mr. Ahmadinejad and others need to answer their questions."
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Sorry about the smoking comment, it was meant as a nudge, as is "Get a grip!!"
You ignore the evil that is obvious in order to construct your world of 'Love of Life' and 'Love of Death.
Neda loved life as do all the protesters.
Moussavi not only loves life but he WAS a fellow believer in the evil system until he questioned just a bit.
It is not "selling fear" to provide support to the underdog, either material or just moral, and yet you withhold it. Where is your love, I ask? You have no passion for the freedoms you take for granted, but for a dream world that does not exist, and cannot exist unless people like you make moral stands and not just posturing.
Also frankly I tire that some so secure in their feelings and not dysfunctional like me, would fixate on my categorizations of you and not gently correct me on what I just said about Ahmadenijad.
Please expound further on how students, mullahs, farmers and communists are stooges of the CIA in Tehran today. I'd really like to understand.
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Robert B as I wrote in another post directly to you I totally see your behavior as childish. What in the world does "What am I smoking?" have to do with the subject? Are you that insecure that all you can do is attack another's character as a way of selling your on fear? Life is about learning to use our own minds or they use us. Selling fear does not show the use of one's mind but actually displays the dysfunctional use of the mind. It's all a matter of choice individuals make on their own. Do you actually have anything to say on the subject or is it like Eric Fromm wrote; "There are two kinds of love, 'Love of Life' and 'Love of Death.' One is constructive and the other is destructive. Obviously I'm sure the one of us believes in one form of love and the other believes in he opposite. Hopefully the readers of these posts will be able to make choices in their minds from our posts which form of love they want in their own lives from our different examples of just your posts and mine.
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