How does one explain this kind of change coming out of Washington?
Maybe this says it all
“a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush who has pursued a hawkish approach to Iran throughout his time in office.”
This just seems to me to fly in the face of everything they have been about for the last 7 1/2 years. And how does McCain respond to something like this?
It just seems like the White House is throwing hand grenades at the Republican nominee.
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smijerI’m trying to keep up & I don’t have my Joel Rosenberg books handy - does this make us Gog or Magog?
RWThis just seems to me to fly in the face of everything they have been about for the last 7 1/2 years
The ban has been in place since the end of the Carter administration. Nothing changed in the last 7 and a half years…..except that the president of Iran has gone more public with his denunciations of Israel, calls for death to America and proclamations that the holocaust was a myth created by the Jews.
The word is that they’re throwing out an olive branch & seeing if Tehran will react in a positive manner or if they’ll spurn us. We haven’t said that we’d negotiate, we’ve said that we would like to move forward with diplomatic efforts & that we hope Iran will listen to the rest of the world and meet us ‘halfway’.
I would think that this would be a good thing & maybe it could stave off a war. Don’t know where you pulled the seven and a half years thing from, though. Is BDS sinking in? 
BuckDiplomacy. Has a nice, almost forgotten ring to it.
Maybe Obama is setting policy even though he has not been elected yet.
The 7 1/2 years thing refers to the Bush Administration only. It seems like only yesterday that there was no way we were ever going to even entertain the notion of acting civil towards Iran.
Hey. Wait a minute. It was only yesterday!
I’ve heard others say that it is just a token gesture so we can bomb the shit out of them and say, “well, we tried”.
Maybe it is some reverse sabre rattling. Drive the price of oil down. Buy at $130.00 per barrel. Drop a bomb on Tehran and then sell at $375.00
I guess time will tell.
BarrySometimes I like to hope that maybe, just maybe, for a brief moment Jed Bartlett or David Palmer have become president. But such happy thoughts don’t last long…
RWIt seems like only yesterday that there was no way we were ever going to even entertain the notion of acting civil towards Iran.
Acting civil? Where did that hyperbole come from?
The policy of the Bush administration is the same as the Clinton administration, the Bush 41 administration, the Reagan administration, the Carter administration: We don’t negotiation with Iran as long as they’re a terrorist nation or if they’re seeking to enrich uranium/go nuclear. Now, one may disagree or quibble, but we had those criteria and they’ve been longstanding.
Hey. Wait a minute. It was only yesterday!
No, it was yesterday that Obama said that he would negotiate with Iran (or other enemies) without condition, then flip-flopped to say that he didn’t really mean that. Or, it was yesterday that Obama said that Iran wasn’t a threat, only to later say that they really are.
My point isn’t politically slanted, though.
IF we end up negotiating - instead of saying ‘well meet and discuss if we’ll end up negotiating’ (and you can throw in your favorite “that’s a play on words” theme at your leisure), then this administration would have done an abrupt about face and gone against what our nation has stood for the last 30-ish years. And that would be something I would abhor. We can’t give them credibility while resolutions & policies have gone against their actions.
I’ve heard others say that it is just a token gesture so we can bomb the shit out of them and say, “well, we tried”.
I heard that Bush was going ton institute the draft after getting re-elected. I heard that it was a war for oil & we’re now at $4/gallon. In short, we hear all sorts of stuff and some of it may end up NOT being BS.
Buy at $130.00 per barrel. Drop a bomb on Tehran and then sell at $375.00
Ah, more ‘war for oil’. Bush’s oil buddies must be included in the conversation (isn’t that a criteria?).
RWSorry for the grammatical errors.
BuckNo need to get overly excited Ricky.
But you have to admit. The guys are looking more and more like Obama every day.
Or is it that Obama is looking more and more like them?
“From pig to man and from man to pig and from pig to man again. And already it was impossible to say which was which”
RWThe guys are looking more and more like Obama every day.
No, they’ve never been willing to negotiate with terrorists but refused to legitimize Fox News by boycotting a debate.
Jokes aside, I certainly don’t see them looking like Obama (maybe on immigration?) in this case. Iran must agree to take a step in our direction, first. Now, if they negotiate while Iran’s enriching, then I’ll agree that they’ve capitulated.
Which, of course, would mean that America capitulated.
We now see that Obama will say whatever, whenever, whichever is politically necessary. The bloom is off that rose. Or, rather, he could no more disavow that rose than…..
(If I seemed excited, I apologize for the bad typing….didn’t inted it that way. I thought it was the other way around, which is why put the funny BDS thing in my first entry. I. Do. Not. Take. Politics. Personally. I’m not one of those people who goes over the top & then claims that it’s because I’m ‘passionate’ about my beliefs. If Democrats win every election in November, my life will be just fine in December. I care more about my hairline than who wins those elections).
BuckI am still trying to figure out whether I like the “timeline” for withdrawal or the “time horizon” for withdrawal best.
I’m gonna have to give it a little more thought.
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It’s called diplomacy. And maybe, just maybe, it reduces the chance of war - you never know.
Just because we pursue a particular policy with one nation doesn’t mean it’s odd we pursue a different policy with their next-door neighbor. Give it a chance, it may prove fruitful.