Hold the olive branch: The Associated Press reports that Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, has rejected the overture that President Obama made by video to the Iranian people this week. “They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven’t seen any change,” Khamenei said in a speech before a crowd that chanted “death to America.” “They say we have stretched a hand toward Iran. … If a hand is stretched covered with a velvet glove but it is cast iron inside, that makes no sense,” Khamenei said.
Well so do the Iranians. Every Halloween, without fail, they go in masses on the streets, much like Times Square on New Years Eve. But instead of being a happy mob they are an angry one. They decend on the building that was formerly the US Embassy, chant death to America, burn efiges of the US President, fire off guns into the air, throw shit at the walls … well you get the picture.
I hope we continue “talking” to Iran, as opposed to threatening to bomb them. They have their own share of hard-liners who dislike the U.S. (e.g. Ayatollah Khamenei), but I can imagine what the average Iranian would think when they listen to Senator McCain singing “Bomb Iran”. There are a lot of Iranians who were unhappy with the Shah (“our” S.O.B.). There was the war with Iraq from 1980-1988, with the U.S. supporting the Iraqis. They currently have U.S. troops, ships, and airplanes on their borders, and the U.S. backed Israeli Air Force is another threat. I’m not surprised that some of them have some hard feelings towards the U.S. I won’t excuse the actions of the Iranians who took over the US embassy in 1979, but the eventual release of the “hostages” was the result of negotiations, not military action. Someday, hopefully soon, both countries will be back on friendly terms.
the eventual release of the “hostages” was the result of negotiations, not military action. Someday, hopefully soon, both countries will be back on friendly terms.
Giving arms to Iran in exchange for hostages is a poor example of effective negotiations.
Iran-Contra affair
Maybe if we give them nuclear weapons they will be real friendly
I hope we continue “talking” to Iran, as opposed to threatening to bomb them. They have their own share of hard-liners who dislike the U.S. (e.g. Ayatollah Khamenei), but I can imagine what the average Iranian would think when they listen to Senator McCain singing “Bomb Iran”. There are a lot of Iranians who were unhappy with the Shah (“our” S.O.B.). There was the war with Iraq from 1980-1988, with the U.S. supporting the Iraqis. They currently have U.S. troops, ships, and airplanes on their borders, and the U.S. backed Israeli Air Force is another threat. I’m not surprised that some of them have some hard feelings towards the U.S. I won’t excuse the actions of the Iranians who took over the US embassy in 1979, but the eventual release of the “hostages” was the result of negotiations, not military action. Someday, hopefully soon, both countries will be back on friendly terms.
So, the reason Iran acts the way it does is our fault? That’s what I’m getting from your missive here. And those folks were hostages, without the quotation marks. You should read Guests of the Ayatollah, by Mark Bowden. I was over in the Persian Gulf region back in '80, just before and after the Desert One debacle. We still have a lot of unfinished business with Khomeini’s successors, and if you think any sort of overture by President Obama will be taken as anything other than a capitulation by him, in that part of the world, then you will have wasted your considerable time in the military, sir. Status quo ante is the best we’ll ever be able to hope for until there’s been a serious regime change undertaken by the folks over in Iran. That is, they’d be able to do that if they were ever given any sort of chance by their own government to exercise actual democratic principles. And the whole Iran-Contra “affair” is just a way of changing the subject, which is what we do about a nuke-owning People’s Islamic Republic of Iran in the near future.
While I’m not in any way, shape or form for turning Iran into a black-glass parking lot, I do agree that something’s got to be done to force things from the stalemate our two countries have been locked in since 1979. Slowguy talked about DIME, at one point several months back. Maybe it’s time our government seriously paid attention to its precepts.
Just out of curiosity, since you seem to be in the know, is it true that those who served aboard Vincensses(sp?) received legion of honor from president Bush Sr.?
Just out of curiosity, since you seem to be in the know, is it true that those who served aboard Vincensses(sp?) received legion of honor from president Bush Sr.?
Not true by any stretch of the imagination. When I was out there, the common name for Vincennes among the servicemembers serving in the Gulf was “Robo Cruiser.” Her captain and crew were also known for being hyper-aggressive when it came to going out and mixing it up with Iranian military elements, who were harrassing passing ships with small arms fire and the occasional rocket-propelled grenade. Actually, Will Rogers (her skipper) and more than a few crewmembers (including the weapons officer, the XO and others) saw their careers suffer as a result. That’s a small price to pay when you consider the over 200 people on that Airbus who were killed in the missile attack, but it is what it is. In Vincennes’ defense, it had been fighting a running series of small skirmishes with Iranian military and paramilitary forces for more than several hours that day, and her radars had painted the Airbus as a possible combatant. That’s called the “fog of war,” and it’ll always be a part of combat.
Besides, in '88, it was still Reagan’s baby. And the Legion of Honor, or a Meritorious Service Medal, tended to be given more for a long and distinguished service career, at retirement, than for anything else back in those days.
Iran Spurns Obama
