According to The Guardian, officials of Barack Obama’s administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks.
State department officials have composed at least three drafts of the letter, which gives assurances that Washington does not want to overthrow the Islamic regime, but merely seeks a change in its behaviour. The letter would be addressed to the Iranian people and sent directly to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or released as an open letter.
One draft proposal suggests that Iran should compare its relatively low standard of living with that of some of its more prosperous neighbours, and contemplate the benefits of losing its pariah status in the west. Although the tone is conciliatory, it also calls on Iran to end what the US calls state sponsorship of terrorism.
Bravo Obama. That is great news. I never understood the Bush stance of not communicating with enemies or countries not too fond of us. I mean, miscommunication and/or not communicating at all is the cause of most strife among people. It just makes sense to talk. The U.S. only gains from increased communication among all nations.
Just so long as Obama doesn’t SIT DOWN at a TABLE with any Iranians. That would effectively condone anti-semitic remarks they or other Iranians may have made, thereby causing the destruction of Israel.
Bush did the same thing with Iraq. I’m not sure if that was before or after he blowed them up though. It’s not uncommon to address the people rather than the leader with a big mouth.
Maybe instead of writing a letter, we could do something meaningful, like get our asses to the Hague and settle some cases. Or stop fucking charging them for storing F-16s we refuse to deliver.
The article say’s the letter is being sent to ‘Supreme Leader’ Khamenei, not the President, Ahmadinejad. How much power does the President really have in the Iranian system?
Presidential candidates must be approved by the Council of Guardians prior to running in order to ensure their allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic revolution. The President is responsible for the implementation of the Constitution and for the exercise of executive powers, except for matters directly related to the Supreme Leader, who has the final say in all matters.
Well, I guess that make it pretty clear who’s top dog.
The President is the highest office in the “democratic” government, and the Supreme Leader is the highest office in the religious government that overrules the “democratic” government as it sees fit. So the Supreme Leader is the top dog, but he usually doesn’t have to do very much, because the President knows to toe the line lest he look bad anyway.
Although the tone is conciliatory, it also calls on Iran to end what the US calls state sponsorship of terrorism.
So we DO want to overthrow the regime.
