Is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent policy a good thing or bad thing for peace ?

So…we (the US government) helped to overthrow the Iranian government in 1953…and now, the only countries where that doesn’t happen are those with nuclear power & weapons.

Why is it so hard to understand, given the USA’s history in that country that maybe…they’re a bit pissed off at us?

Sorry, but I’m still pissed off about things that happened millenea ago…in that, I have a lot in common with many historical places of conflict & the people living there around the world.

If you think that the USA has a right to overthrow a government & then complain when people who grew up in the aftermath think we’re pricks, I can recommend a few good books, shrinks or self help materials :)

lol..here we go again…

anyway…just an observation… I am amazed that the very same people who have pushed for and supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the military push to “straighten out” the Middle East, the bombings, the death on both sides… are the very same people who are so up in arms that the President would visit the middle east and open discussion…

You are okay with bombing and destruction but draw the line at conversation…

Speaking as an American/Iranian I can assure you that the citizens of Iran dread their own leadership. You think religious people are crazy for their views, try Ahmadinejad who is waiting for Imam Mehdi/Mahdi to make his appearance at any moment and convert the world. I grew up there and under the Shah there was persecution of the populace that didn’t see eye to eye with his regime. We grew up with CIA at my parents cocktail partys. It is no secret that Ahmadinejad and Khameini intend to use nuclear weapons and not for energy. My relatives back there live in fear that the Israelis will be pushed too far. Ahmadinejad has just as much power to make people “disappear” as the Shah had with his SAVAK. When the Ayatollah Khomeini deposed the Shah my father escaped with the clothes on his back and the aid of men armed with Uzi’s. The best thing for peace is always negotiations, but you have to have minds that are pro peace to work with. My fathers crime against the Ayatollah’s government? He and his brothers central heated and air conditioned the country. My dad’s factory that employed 3000 workers was converted to army barracks. His millions were seized by the Ayatollah’s bankers and we don’t dare return. Ahmadinejad is a dangerous man. If you want to know more about what makes him tick, google Imam Al Mahdi (pronounced Mehdi by Persians)He is convinced that Isa “Jesus Christ” will return with him and kill the antichrist. He believes antichrist is an American Jew. How does one negotiate with a mind like that?

Utopia, you know as well as we do that we differ so far on topics that there is no way we can convert the other. It isn’t a matter of us telling him in person that we dont want him playing with nukes, he already knows that. The man does not believe the holocaust happened, he has said repeatedly that Israel must be wiped off the map. How are you going to convince him otherwise? Many people have already tried, would doing it in person make a difference?

Think of it this way, you have a gun in your hand and a bad guy is reaching for his gun and has your husband hostage. Are you going to ask him 20 times please dont pull your gun out, or are you going to shoot him? He has already made it perfectly clear that he wants to kill your husband.

The thing is we conservatives do believe in times of diplomacy, but we also recognize when diplomacy has failed. Why should we wait for them to fire the first shot? “I am sorry honey but he hasn’t actually hurt you yet so I am going to wait till he pulls the trigger”

We also believe that when someone wants to go to war victory is our only option. “Honey I think we should just let him win, after all what would the children think if we killed someone.”

We don’t feel bad about it. “Honey, are you sure you have not oppressed this man in some way? I am sure that deep down inside he is a good man. This is just one big misunderstanding.”

By all means, talk to the leaders, personally I dont care. But set limits and for the love of G-d talk like you mean it.

One question that I would like to ask though is why is it ok for Iran to have nuclear power, but not us?

It is neither. It is rhetoric from a fairly powerless president. What would be bad for peace is if we overreact to such rhetoric instead if addressing it with logic, pragmatism, and diplomacy. Something the Bush administration never did.

tseirpeht, your example is extremely simplistic for a rather complicated issue. And Iran right now does not have the ability to hold the proverbial gun to our head. Regardless of what you think, diplomacy did not fail. It was never tried. There were no diplomatic attempts at resolution with Iran, or the rest of the mideast, by the bush admin. They took the approach that you don’t discuss things with people we disagree with. They just made demands they knew Iran would reject, and then threw up their hands and said, “see, we tried and they won’t listen”.