Obama 'will talk to Iran'

Obama

english.aljazeera.net

Barack Obama, the new US president, will engage in "tough and direct" diplomacy with Iran "without preconditions", the White House has said.
The Obama administration said in a website statement on Wednesday that it aimed to use "the power of American diplomacy" over what it called "Iran's illicit nuclear program, support for terrorism, and threats towards Israel".

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 22-1-2009 by aboxoftrix]

Hi, didn't see this posted and I just seen it on google.
This is my first real post, so if I get something wrong, sorry ha!
Oh, let me know what you all think about this. Is it a good idea for Obama to talk to known terrorist states and the such?

I really don't know what else to say but I keep having to add more comments before I can actually post this. It's kinda crazy, I hope this is enough now.

Thanks and enjoy.

english.aljazeera.net
(visit the link for the full news article)

Welcome to ATS!

Well at least Obama is going to use diplomacy first, and try to come to some kind of solution with Iran. We certianly cannot afford another sustained conflict in our current economic situation. The last one did not generate any huge plethoria of jobs, if anything, we lost jobs and the economy reflects that.

Lets see what Obama can do.


Cheers!!!!

If everything being said is infact true, this could go very well.
I mean, how can one expect to solve the problems with one's enemy, so to speak, when there is no communication? You can't.
The only way to solve the current problems, even with so-called "terrorists" (if they even exist) is to first, figure out what it is they want that we're able to give, in trade for what we want, peace.

Good to see Obama honoring this invitation asap.

It's been a long time coming...

Ahmadinejad has been very patient with us, considering all the ignorance and arrogance we have shown him over the past two Bush terms.

In my opinion a relationship with Iran is more important then one with Israel.

To please some of his puppet masters he has to make it appear as if he is playing hardball.

reply to post by aboxoftrix

That's what politicians are paid to do. I would much prefer to see him earn his salary than start another destructive and futile war we A) can't win, B) can't pay for and C) will definitely reinstate the draft to conduct. Face it, unlike the post-911 hysteria there is no way people will join the military en masse to go up against a well funded state like Iran which clearly has the allies to finish us off both financially and arms-wise.

Obama's not obligated to destroy our country to please warmongerers and bible-thumpers who think their purpose in life is to usher in Armageddon which is clearly what has held the top positions for much of the last 28 years starting with Ronald Reagan. At least he has the background to deal with that country's religious and cultural demands, minus Condoleeza Rice alienating the leadership. I am interested to see what role the Clintons play in this considering his administration's failure in Somalia which also was a Muslim state.

Welcome to ATS!

I cant see why "the talk" is needed, and why Iran should even join to "Obamas talks" about their states own issues. Iran is sovereign state, and they havent threat anyone in decades. Iran-Iraq war was defensive from their point of view.

Iran has all the rights have nuclear programs than any other country, I cant see why Iran makes any difference. If they want to have nuclear plants, fine, If they want to make bombs, fine. If nuclear weapons should be banned from everyone, I would agree with problem.

Now we are just driving Zionist agenda with these talks...

Attack in Gaza was clear message to Iran what is coming. Israel dont hesitate to slaughter civilians in their agenda, and war is about to start. Obamas talks are just talks, doomed to fail, like Israel peace negotiations with Syria same day when they start bombing Gaza.

I am sure that Iran will make all preparations to coming war against USrael, and by US side, cleaning Iraqi bases from US soldiers now, is clear step towards bombing Tehran.

Welcome to WW3.

i may be somewhat drunk but...

IRAN SHOULD # THE # OUT OF ISREAL

Originally posted by The All Seeing I
Good to see Obama honoring this invitation asap.

It's been a long time coming...

Ahmadinejad has been very patient with us, considering all the ignorance and arrogance we have shown him over the past two Bush terms.

In my opinion a relationship with Iran is more important then one with Israel.

To please some of his puppet masters he has to make it appear as if he is playing hardball.

I think Ahmadinejad saw from the beginning that Bush was like his father and needed to ignore most of the comments Bush made.

reply to post by Snift


while I hope for the best, even if Obama is twice the diplomat he appears to be, I think Iran will play the game like North Korea. We will give them something they need in exchange for no missile tests and no nuclear weapons program. 18 months later they will have more enriched uranium and longer ranged missiles.

Originally posted by The All Seeing I
Good to see Obama honoring this invitation asap.

It's been a long time coming...

Ahmadinejad has been very patient with us, considering all the ignorance and arrogance we have shown him over the past two Bush terms.

In my opinion a relationship with Iran is more important then one with Israel.

To please some of his puppet masters he has to make it appear as if he is playing hardball.

That probably ranks as one of the most naive posts i've seen on this forum. First of all you negate any element of truth in your assertion that Ahmadinejad actually wields absolute power in the religious theocracy (ref: his "patience"). Secondly, you conveniently ignore the ignorance and arrogance bestowed upon the Iranian people by Ahmadinejads/Irans "utopia" that you seem ardent on Obama negotiating with.

I'm sure you're a self-championed philanthropist and human rights supporter, so please tell why it is you sympathise with a country that willfully stones its own people, hangs people, terrorises people on their own streets whilst incarcerating hundreds of thousands without charge or notice in prisons that make Guantanamo look like 7* resort?!

You are at least right that in an ideal world we should befriend such a country, that historically (prior to the inception of its islamic revolution) promoted peace, goodwill and civilisation... You fail to make a distinction between the fascist government of Iran and its oppressed people.

I don't honestly see how anyone can think this ISN'T a good thing?

I realize the people who I am saying this to don't think this matters, BUT THE UNITED STATES IS HATED IN MOST OF THE WORLD FOR A REASON. We dubbed ourselves the judge and the jury on what is right and wrong in the world and look where it has gotten us. It is time to stop going around telling everyone how to act and when to act. Diplomacy has been a lost art in the United States for some time now.

Western Media wants you to believe that Ahmadinejad is the new Hussein/Bin Laden. I hear time and time again that "he said the Holocaust never happened" and "Israel needs wiped off the map" but I desperately ask any member here fluent in Arabic to translate the quotes in question and compare them to what we were told by Western Media. We in the West have hardly any concept of their way of life, their culture, and we sure as well don't respect it.

I've made the statement before that America is the EPITOME of hypocrisy. We thump our bibles, we reprimand every action, we dis respect their culture and religion, we take a dump on anything Islamic or Middle Eastern. YET WE CONDEMN THEM FOR DOING THE SAME EXACT THING TO US.

Communication and understanding will go a long way, but there is a whole mass of sheeple who think otherwise. They've had it beaten into their heads that all Arabs want to kill their babies and blow up our country. Geezus christ, what did we just do to Iraq? What did Israel just do to Gaza while we sat back and cheered them on? WE ARE THE TERRORISTS.

FEMA describes terrorism as...

Terrorism

Throughout human history, there have been many threats to the security of nations. These threats have brought about large-scale losses of life, the destruction of property, widespread illness and injury, the displacement of large numbers of people, and devastating economic loss.

THIS DESCRIBES TO A TEE WHAT WE DID TO IRAQ. We smashed their military, we killed countless Iraqis, DESTROYED their country, put countless out of house and home, and killed 4000+ of our own in the process. Oh yeah, AND WHERE THE HELL WAS OSAMA BIN LADEN OR WMDS?

But we are told we HAVE TO BE AFRAID of the boogeyman? Of the "terrorists" out there who hate our way of life? Did you know that more people die in one week in the United States alone from obesity than people have died WORLDWIDE from terrorism in the last 8 years? If you really want to be scared of something, QUIT BUYING FAST FOOD AND GO FOR A FUGGING JOG.

THINK about that fact I just said...
2929 deaths WORLD WIDE from Terrorism in 8 years. (since 9/11)
5769 deaths from obesity IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE .. IN ONE WEEK
www.msnbc.msn.com...
www.wrongdiagnosis.com...

QUIT WATCHING TV, QUIT WATCHING FOX NEWS, QUIT WATCHING CNN, QUIT WATCHING MSNBC....

There is no boogeyman. If there was one, it's certainly not Iran, the middle east, or terrorists... IT'S YOUR OWN DAMN SELVES FOR BELIEVING EVERY BULLCRAP LIE SHOVED DOWN YOUR THROAT BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA.

Talk to Iran, talk to North Korea, talk to everyone... first thing I would say if I was Obama is "I'm sorry we have been so stupid"

If you don't agree with what I have to say, THINK ABOUT THAT FACT I SAID FOR JUST ONE MORE SECOND OR TWO.

This is not life through rosy colored glasses, this is REALITY. This is FACT. I know you all have been trained since birth to believe this is the greatest country on Earth but put aside your collective God Complex for one damned second and get over yourselves. Your government lies, your media lies, you believe it. STOP IT.

[edit on 23-1-2009 by ImaNutter]

Originally posted by ImaNutter


Western Media wants you to believe that Ahmadinejad is the new Hussein/Bin Laden. I hear time and time again that "he said the Holocaust never happened" and "Israel needs wiped off the map" but I desperately ask any member here fluent in Arabic to translate the quotes in question and compare them to what we were told by Western Media. We in the West have hardly any concept of their way of life, their culture, and we sure as well don't respect it.



[edit on 23-1-2009 by ImaNutter]

Well first off, it's Persian or Farsi, not Arabic!!! alot of the language is based on metaphors, in this case "wiped from the pages of time". It doesn't take a scholar in any field to decipher his intentions. He isn't the next Saddam or Osama, he isn't even a head of state.

[edit on 23-1-2009 by theblunttruth]

the only reason that Iran is labelled a terrorist state is because Bush said so - must have had his eye on their oil....

Anyway, I applaud this approach from Obama - to quote Winston Churchill "To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war."

Something some of our more bloodthirsty members seem to overlook is the cost of war - not just in terms of lives lost, or money, but in every way.

REALLY! not head of state!

i think maybe you should mention that to President Ahmadinejad that he isn`t the head....


anyway his election is this year , and given he isn`t popular they`ll be a new president (IMO)

reply to post by Harlequin


Yep really!!! Irans head of state is Ayatollah Ali Khameini (Supreme Leader), who holds absolute power.

So Iran isn't even a democracy, it's complex system manages to fool many into thinking that it is...

en.wikipedia.org...:Iran_gov_power_structure.svg





[edit on 23-1-2009 by theblunttruth]

Although a nuclear Iran is not a wishful idea, we should question why they should be forbidden to develop such a weapon while other countries, including Israel were allowed.
This is a clear example of double standards. Surely you can advocate that Iran's regime is in the West's perception more a threat than Israel, it doesn't change the fact that double standards are applied. People throughout the world therefore do not take us serious anymore, with good reason.

Ontopic: It's good to see the US finally changing it's policy of isolation. Isolation is outdated and doesn't work nowadays. All you gain is exactly the opposite: radicalism and an increased terrorism threat.

[edit on 23-1-2009 by Mdv2]

Welll he is the head of state, just as the Queen of England is the head of state and President Obama is , so whilst there might be `more powerful` people in each respective country , the ones i named are all perceived as the Leader and yet others hold just as much , if not more `power`

eg in the UK , the Prime Minister calls the shots

Originally posted by Mdv2
Although a nuclear Iran is not a wishful idea, we should question why they should be forbidden to develop such a weapon while other countries, including Israel were allowed.
This is a clear example of double standards. Surely you can advocate that Iran's regime is in the West's perception more a threat than Israel, it doesn't change the fact that double standards are applied. People throughout the world therefore do not take us serious anymore, with good reason.

Ontopic: It's good to see the US finally changing it's policy of isolation. Isolation is outdated and doesn't work nowadays. All you gain is exactly the opposite: radicalism and an increased terrorism threat.

[edit on 23-1-2009 by Mdv2]

The same reason a policeman can carry a gun on the street and a criminal can't. In theory of course your correct, it is hypocritical. Let's not forget though during the Shahs time that infact western government helped Iran with it's nuclear ambitions, even the possibility of an nuclear arsenal wasn't out of the question. When you have a country that doesn't think twice about stoning its own people, what makes you think they are likely to be trusted with a weapon when they publicly threaten the anhilation of another state?

Originally posted by aboxoftrix
Oh, let me know what you all think about this. Is it a good idea for Obama to talk to known terrorist states and the such?

Well, the rest of the world was still talking/doing business with the US for the past decade while it was the worlds no1 aggressor/terrorist.

Now that the US has all but bankrupted itself because of the GWB's phony war and caused
ripples throughout the Global economy - everyone is wondering if it was a good idea to have gotten that close to the US in the first place.

My point being.. if you deal with terrorist states.. prepare to get bitten