Grovel Now Please
The sucking up is a good start, but Ahmadinejad wants an apology for past crimes, as well as immediate surrender and withdrawal of all Crusader forces to dhimmi lands. Reuters:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking after Obama offered to extend a hand of peace if Iran “unclenched its fist.”
This marked a new approach from George W. Bush, who had sought to isolate Tehran, and Western diplomats said the change in Washington could offer a “once-in-a-generation” chance for the two foes to end three decades of hostility.
But the diplomats said that, while some pragmatic voices in Iran wanted better ties with the West, more hardline voices who control key levers of power could block an opening amid fears that Washington still wants to undermine the ruling system.
“We welcome change but on condition that change is fundamental and on the right track,” Ahmadinejad told a rally in western Iran, broadcast live on state television.
“When they say policy would change, it means they would end America’s military presence around the world,” he said, referring to U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world.
Ahmadinejad said any change that was merely a shift in tactics would “soon be revealed.”
“Those who say they want to make change, this is the change they should make: they should apologize to the Iranian nation and try to make up for their dark background and the crimes they have committed against the Iranian nation,” Ahmadinejad said.
OK, it’s about hope, change. Will he get it, or does he end up disappointed and disillusioned like his progressive pals? It’s an unfolding mystery. No word on whether A’jad plans any reciprocal expressions of regret for past or present acts of terrorism, from the US Embassy in Tehran to Iraq to Lebanon to Gaza.
Rhetorical skills in full bloom:
Ahmadinejad had harsh words for Obama’s predecessor: “Mr Bush has gone into the trash can of history with a very black and shameful file full of treachery and killings.”
“He left and, God willing, he will go to hell,” he added.
Meanwhile,
A Western diplomat said Obama’s election offered “a once in a generation opportunity” for a new start in relations between Tehran and Washington, which were cut after students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran following the 1979 revolution.
“They will never get a new U.S. president who is as balanced as Obama’s public statements are, who talks about wanting to engage in a respectful way with Iran and who seems less encumbered by the baggage of the past,” the diplomat said.
“To me it is in Iran’s clear interest to engage,” he said, although he added there was a risk hardliners clinging to a “we’re-winning-you’re-losing rhetoric” may prevail.
Mystery diplomat almost makes it sound like the ball’s in Iran’s court. That’s odd.
This part is also interesting.
Iranian opposition politician Ebrahim Yazdi said he did not expect movement on the issue of U.S. relations before Iran’s June vote, when Ahmadinejad is expected to seek re-election.
It almost sounds like an opportunity for Obama, if he prefers to make love, not war, to influence events on the ground to his advantage. Don’t grovel too soon, Obie. The fact that they rig elections in Iran could be a fly in that ointment, though.
Related, Gateway with Obama’s great news for despots, the Freedom Movement is Dead.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:57 am on Wednesday, January 28, 2009
One Response to “Grovel Now Please”
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January 28th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
As the president told Al-Arabiya television Monday, he wants a return to “the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.”
You mean, right about the time the Islamist movement declared war on America?