US may soon make overture to Iran leader

Boston Globe ^ | March 11, 2009 | Farah Stockman

[SolidWood]

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is leaning toward making a major diplomatic overture to Iran before the country's presidential elections in June. This initiative could come in the form of a letter from President Obama to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to two senior European diplomats who have met in recent weeks with key State Department officials crafting a new US policy toward Iran.

The letter would be aimed at initiating talks over the Iranian nuclear program and Iran's role in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

It would be the first formal communication between an American president and Iran's leadership since Washington cut diplomatic ties with Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

State Department officials yesterday declined to comment on their plans for changing Iran policy until they complete an ongoing review.

But on Monday, State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood told reporters: "We have offered our hand to the government of Iran, and we hope to be able to engage this government on a whole range of issues. But a lot of it's going to depend on Iran and its willingness to engage and its willingness to change its behavior in a number of areas where we have concern."

[Puppage]

Please like us....PLEASE?

[Puppage]

"We have offered our hand to the government of IraN..."

And, therein lies the problem.We should offer them a fist.

[RexBeach]

Boy, this strategy ought to scare hell out of the mullahs.

God help us, this White House is so stupid and sloppy.

[Constitution Day]

I never thought this country would be ruled by cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

Sad.

[Republic of Texas]

Hopefully it will be the 1812 Overture.

[SolidWood]

Those geniuses at the White House think it’s especially smart to talk to them BEFORE their “elections”... they apparently desperately want to strengthen Ahmadinejad, instead of waiting for a President that might at least be superficially moderate. Talk about making a bad thing worse.

[pissant]

These stooges are getting played like a yo-yo

[TexasCajun]

Israel, sorry it's up to you alone.

Our President loves muslim terrorist!

[EagleUSA]

You mean we haven’t already?? What the hell is our fine state department doing??

[RC2]

What would the American people say about this idea? But then again, I guess our opinion doesn’t count.

[BipolarBob]

Obama need another cabinet member? Ahmindeedanutjob would fit right in the scheme of things.

[mort56]

Official Three Step Foreign Policy Under Obama/Clinton

Step One: Appease.
Step Two: Bribe
Step Three: Surrender.

[browardchad]

Boy, this strategy ought to scare hell out of the mullahs.

Well, it scares the hell out me, considering what Israel might decide to do about it.

[a fool in paradise]

Toe tapping?

[Diogenesis]

Sure worked for the Taliban and releases (not).

"Obama being illogical - Taliban"
"This does not require any response or reaction for this is illogical," Qari Mohammad Yousuf,
a purported spokesman for the insurgent group, said when asked
if its top leader Mullah Mohammad Omar would make any comment about Mr Obama's proposal.
"The Taliban are united, have one leader, one aim, one policy...
I do not know why they are talking about moderate Taliban and what it means?

---

"Afghanistan Taliban leader was at Gitmo"
"The Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan had been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center,
the latest example of a freed detainee who took a militant leadership role and a potential complication for the Obama administration's efforts to close the prison.
U.S. authorities handed over the detainee to the Afghan government,
which in turn released him, according to Pentagon and CIA officials.
Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, formerly Guantanamo prisoner No. 008,
was among 13 Afghan prisoners released to the Afghan government in December 2007.
Rasoul is now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a nom de guerre that Pentagon
and intelligence officials say is used by a Taliban leader who is in charge of operations
against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan."

[americanophile]

"The Obama administration is leaning toward making a major diplomatic overture to Iran before the country's presidential elections in June."

Just in time to send the worst possible message to the people of Iran: that hard-line policies, rabid, genocidal antisemitism, and an aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons, has the effect of bringing the U.S. to the bargaining table. This should assure Ahmadinejad's reelection and shore up any waning support for the mullahs.

A horrible mistake!

[y6162]

“Boy, this strategy ought to scare hell out of the mullahs.”

Obamachev to the mullahs, uh.. uh.. umm uh.. if you uh.. uh.. stop ya know..uh... building uh.. uh.. uh.. a nuke, I’ll give you uh... uh... uh... 25 DVDs, but not the uh... uh... Wrestler or 300! Uh..uh..deal?

[RexBeach]

LOL!

That’ll fix those Iranians! We’ll bury them in DVDs!

[bill1952]

this White House is so stupid and sloppy.

I don't think that this is stupid at all.

It is planned. He stated publicly that he would engage all of these leaders with no preconditions attached, and the people voted him in.

This is his “political capital” and he is going to use it.

In the way that anyone named Hussein might.