Khatami to run again for Iran presidency
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0
Betzee
If he wins, the Obama administration has to engage him. Khatami's first victory was a miscalculation on the part of the mullahs when they let him stand for office in the first place. We didn't take advantage of it and he was replaced by Ahmadinejad. (Iran has its own red state-blue state electoral configuration).
I realize Iran consumed the Carter presidency and nearly did in Ronald Reagan through the now forgotten Iran-contra scandal, but the zero enrichment policy of GWB was an adject failure.
0
yabits
Yes, Iran, we in the United States have problems with our conservatives too. Unraveling economies appears to be one of their specialties.
The best thing in Khatami's favor is that the United States now has a leader who is neither arrogant nor unintelligent. The whole "Axis of Evil" thing essentially made it much easier for someone like Ahmadinejad to take office.
0
Betzee
Yabits,
Iran is an interesting place for an election watcher. While candidates must be approved and the mullahs do retain real power, once an election kicks off the candidates conduct their campaigns in rather sophisticated fashion. Persian is the third largest internet language after English and Mandarin. You're not anyone in Iran unless you have a blog and this creates an environment conducive to the exchange of ideas rather than simply chanting slogans. This is not Saudi Arabia....
0
SuperLib
Childish, at best.
0
SuperLib
Ahmadinejad has done a lot to damage Iran's relationship with the West.
0
yabits
Definitely not! (Fascinating tidbit by the way about Farsi being so prominent on the Internet.)
To get a more-rounded picture of modern Iranian society, I highly recommend watching some Iranian-made movies, such as Children of Heaven, Offside, Persepolis, et. al. All extremely well-made and very open about the tensions and disagreements within Iranian society.
There is absolutely no reason why the United States and Iran can't be on friendly terms.
0
Betzee
This is an example of how we really shoot ourselves in the foot:
Prior to Khatami's visit to Harvard (in 2005?):
The Kennedy School of Government said today it had secured protection for former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami when he visits Harvard on Sunday, one day after Massachusetts Governor W. Mitt Romney ordered all state agencies to refuse requests to provide security for the Muslim cleric.
On Tuesday, Romney, who earned joint degrees in business and law from Harvard in 1974, called Harvard’s invitation of the former Iranian leader “a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists.”
The Kennedy School pledged on Tuesday that the event would go forward as planned, despite Romney’s announcement.
“We can understand and often share [Romney’s] disagreement with the positions of Khatami,” the school said in a statement. “The school nonetheless believes that active and open dialogue are a critical part of effective education and policy.”
Khatami is not an extremist. But that seems to elude the "we don't negotiate with evil we defeat it" crowd. Ahmadinejad is the first non-cleric to be president of Iran.
0
timorborder
This is a very good development. Moreover, the decision by Romney regarding security just shows how far the US has to go in understanding the situation on the ground in Iran. These folks are not all nutters.
0
skipthesong
I have always liked Khatami and I think most Americans liked him.
this is good news
0
SezWho2
I hope he does run and I hope he wins. I wouldn't expect Iran's position on the nuclear issue to change much as a result of this, but the tone should be different. In that respect it would be a little like an Obama presidency in which what has changed is mostly the tone.
Ahmadinejad has been a distraction for Iran. His tendency to overstate his case has made for easy demonization of Iran. And that was easily taken up by those who like to demonize. A change of tone would be welcome.
0
Betzee
If there's a moderate in office we must do what we can to bolster him. Khatami's government organized Iran's vigil of support for the victims of 9/11. As Shias, the Iranians themselves have historically been targets of Sunni fundamentalists.
Once Iran was included in the "axis of evil," it undercut his ability to argue "we can deal with the US in a non-confrontational way" to the hardliners in his own government. What a surprise, he was succeeded by Ahmadinejad.
0
skipthesong
Yes, Iran, we in the United States have problems with our conservatives too." Well, I recall living under both Bushes, Regan and I think I made Nixon too. I don't think I'd trade living under them than living under Iran's conservatives. I imagine you would too otherwise you wouldn't be able to make such statements.
0
Betzee
Yabits,
Iranians look down on Arabs as heathens. Persia, after all, has historically been a contributor to world culture, most recently through films.
I love Offside which focuses on the onsite detention of a bunch of sophisticated urban girls seeking admittance to a sports stadium, a male-only venue, to watch a World Cup play-off game. Their minders are several country yokel soldiers. This was based on the director's own daughter's experience. Yet it becomes much more in his hands. The detention serves as a metaphor for the contradictions, restrictions, and injustices all citizens of the Islamic Republic navigate in daily life.
0
wuzzademcrat
It's been thirty years since their supposedly glorious revolution. It doesn't matter who gets elected in the Potemkin elections they orchestrate, the mullahs have to deliver on the lofty promises made and make worthwhile the sacrifices ordinary Iranians have had to make.
0
SezWho2
Making good on lofty promises made is what all leaders have to do, notwithstanding what countries they may lead.
0
bebert
I think some of you forget who butters Obama's bread. He is just as beholden to the Zionists and their money as Bush and Clinton were, perhaps even more so. Unless Khatami is willing to surrender all of Iran's national interests, there will be no change in relations between Iran and the USA.
0
Betzee
This was exactly the mindset of those who criticized Ronald Reagan's overture to Gorbachev in the 1980s. "He's no different from any of his predecessors, don't be taken in."
Such a mindset really limits our options. In the case of Iran, it forced us to settle on a hardline approach, i.e. we won't talk to you until you stop enriching uranium, which yielded no results.
0
wuzzademcrat
"The best thing in Khatami's favor is that the United States now has a leader who is neither arrogant nor unintelligent."
But arrogant enough that they are also burning effigies of Obama in Teheran these days...
He really needs to ask - why do they hate us?
0
yabits
Another non-sequitur. You are really on a roll.
0
yabits
It is not likely to be the supporters of Khatami who are burning effigies of President Obama. That sort of activity would be coming from among the hardline conservatives in Iran.
There are reports of effigies of Barack Obama having been hung or burned in the United States too. Add to that the invective from many of the haters which is unbalanced, unfair, and in many cases flat out dishonest.
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