Obama did a masterful job of demonstrating Uncle Sam trying in good faith to turn over a new leaf. No one else in U.S. government could've brought the personal background and attributes that he brought to the occasion.
I hope he is bringing the same honesty about past U.S. and Western attitudes and deeds in the region to evaluating the potential threat posed by Iran. Republicans, mostly, have been trying to whip up (and make political hay out of) that for a half-dozen years.
But for the reasons Obama acknowledged in his speech, plus the proximity of U.S. military forces to their borders and off their shore, plus having a nuclear-armed Isreal nearby, Iranians have credible reason to feel they need a nuclear deterrent capability.
Obama will have done the region and the world a major favor if he can convince the Iranians that the U.S. has no intention of launching pre-emptive strikes against it, or of invading and bringing about regime change, as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan. If he can pull that off, the Iranians might just conclude they don't need nuclear weapons after all. And maybe they will come to realize they don't need to fear and loathe the U.S., either.
Thanks, SW.
The refusal of some to even consider the points-of-view of the Palestinian/Arab/Islamic world is part of the reason we are in the quagmire of the Middle East. If we belittle the irritants that enrage the extremists, we swell their ranks with others who give up on more reasonable methods.
Reasonable people listen. Reasonable diplomats realize that good is rarely all on one side. Loyalty is not blind, deaf, and dumb.
Yes, honesty, good faith, living up to our founding ideals, all have practical benefits in diplomacy.
Commenting by HaloScan
