Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has sent a letter to Catherine Ashton, the EU's fatuous head of foreign policy, in which Jalili stated that Iran is willing to resume talks with unspecified "new initiatives." As reported by Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/us-iran-idUSTRE81E0RF20120216), Jalili "made one reference to "Iran's nuclear issue," without spelling out whether Tehran was prepared to negotiate on it."
In a joint meeting, Hillary Clinton and Catherine Ashton responded with joy. Again, as reported by Reuters (http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE81G1DH20120217), Clinton declared:
"We think this is an important step and we welcome the letter."
Ashton's response:
"a potential possibility that Iran may be ready to start talks."
Ah, yes, a "potential possibility." Although I don't know whether Clinton or Ashton is more naive, I certainly know who is more obtuse.
Both Clinton and Ashton would be well advised to read Ray Takeyh's opinion piece in today's Washington Post entitled "Why Iran thinks it needs the bomb" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-iran-thinks-it-needs-the-bomb/2012/02/16/gIQAauVHKR_story_1.html?sub=AR). Takeyh writes:
"From Tehran’s perspective, protracted diplomacy has the advantage of potentially dividing the international community, shielding Iran’s facilities from military retribution and easing economic sanctions. Iran may have to be patient in its quest to get the bomb; it may have to offer confidence-building measures and placate its allies in Beijing and Moscow. Any concessions it makes will probably be reversible and symbolic so as not to derail the overall trajectory of the nuclear program."
Although Ashton may not catch Takeyh's gist, I am confident that Hillary is capable of undertanding. Meanwhile, the Obama administration continues to grasp at any straw to avoid confrontation with Iran.
This is beyond belief!. That the Europeans and the US are yet again accepting to be manipulated by Iran is an indicator that they have no idea how dangerous this policy is. Don’t Clinton and Ashton realize that the mutually assured destruction MAD doctrine does not work with Iran? Google MAD is Dead www.madisdead.blogspot.com
ReplyDeletePresident Obama, the emperor, has no clothes. Finally there he is - exposed by events in Syria in all his ignorance and naiveté. But what about us in Israel? We still have to bear the consequences of his absurd policies. Our Prime Minister has to maneuver between the apocalyptic villain Ahmadinejad and his narcissistic useful idiot. He must defeat the madman and outmaneuver the fool!
What a nightmare!
Precisely.
ReplyDeleteWhat if Ashton or CLinton had to sit through one day, or one night of the reality of barrages of katyushas and grad missiles from Hizballah in Lebanon or Hamas from Gaza...? Then imagine nuclear weapons in the hands of Hizballah or Hamas's sponsors...
What water do they drink? What air do they breath? They are so totally disconnected from reality. They are playing with the lives of people who understand threats and know that the words of vicious threats become deeds - if they are permitted to do so.
"Relax. What happened in Tunisia is not about to repeat itself in other Arab states."
ReplyDeleteThose were the words of Salman Masalha written in Ha'aretz about a year ago.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-1.337882
Of course things turned out quite differently but you won't see any apology or explanation for Masalha's analysis anywhere.
Articles like this seem to be just more Déjà vu after reading of Clinton's hopes for Assad Jr. becoming a reformer, Friedman's "Democracy is just around the corner for Egyptians" and Cohen's argument that the Iranian government is not totalitarian.
Jeff, where the heck are you man ??
ReplyDeleteThe editorial staff at the NYT have been checking your blog daily since last Saturday and after seeing no activity at all, they decided it was safe to run this story today: 'U.S. Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build a Bomb' http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/us-agencies-see-no-move-by-iran-to-build-a-bomb.html?_r=1&hp
...after assuming you're either a. Dead b. On an extended business trip in Homs and can't find a reliable internet connection anywhere or c. Roger Cohen finally finally made a substantial investment in Compugen and as part the agreement, forced you to never blog about Iran or his buddies at the NYT ever again.
Seriously, "shtuyot" aside,I miss reading your commentaries and hope you and your family are well.
We are you, Jeffrey?
ReplyDelete