Make talk, not war

By Erin Waters, NTNN Writer

Iran’s test firing of nine missiles during a July military exercise added to America’s concern about the country’s nuclear agenda. For about two years, Iran has been enriching uranium - a key component in advanced nuclear weapons - for what they say is for non-threatening purposes. American politicians think otherwise. Because of this, Iran is quickly moving to the forefront of the debate.

While Democrat Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain both perceive Iran as a threat, more or less, the presidential hopefuls differ on whether we should engage in direct talks with Iranian leaders. The goals of this communication would be political negotiations and preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

McCain, like President Bush, claims he will use force against Iran only as a last resort. Sincere attempts at peacemaking, however, are not at the top of the Republican agenda. McCain will only talk if Iran first agrees to stop its uranium enrichment. In this condescending approach, McCain is burning his maverick brand into the American ideal of diplomacy. He believes in “straight talk,” but not in talking fair.

Obama favors talks with Iranian leaders without preconditions. He compares this approach to America’s past strategies when confronted with nuclear dilemmas.

“Think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, ‘we’re going to wipe you off the planet,’” Obama said at an Oregon campaign stop in May, according to The New York Times.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists on his country’s right to develop a nuclear energy program, and denies any aspirations to build a nuclear bomb, according to the U.K.’s “The Guardian” in 2007. In July, Ahmadinejad said he would consider favorably any request aimed at improving relations between Iran and the U.S.

Faulty communication and intelligence led us into a five-year war on false pretences with Iraq. Bush ignored advice from allies and the United Nations and entered battle on the unsubstantiated logic that Saddam Hussein was the type to possess weapons of mass destruction and to use them against America.

Bush’s precondition in 2003 was that Hussein disarm. When Hussein couldn’t meet this demand, Bush announced the start of combat with Iraq. Hours later, American forces began dropping bombs on Baghdad. If McCain wins the election, and he continues to assume that Iran has a nuclear agenda, Iran could be the Iraq of the future.

Military solutions alone have only led to more countries on America’s laundry list of adversaries. If war is a last resort, peaceful solutions should be the first.

On April 18, 2007, when asked before an audience of South Carolina veterans whether there was a plan to attack Iran, McCain answered to the tune of a popular Beach Boys song:

“Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” he sang, and then chuckled.

McCain shrugs off Obama’s diplomatic proposals as naïve. McCain said he believes that the time has come for sanctions to modify Iran’s aggressive behavior.

“Lines of communication are fine. Action is what’s necessary,” McCain said in July, according to NPR.

Lord John Alderdice of Belfast, Ireland, who helped resolve deep-rooted conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, has traveled the U.S. giving lectures on “Road Maps to Peace.” During a Sept. 6 radio interview with travel guru Rick Steves, he offered insight into resolving our conflicts with terrorist-supporting countries.

“Politics is about how we disagree without killing each other,” Alderdice said. “If we don’t have politics, then we end up with violence. This is how as a community, we transform our aggressive and fearful, and envious and rivalrous impulses into something that’s productive and positive for all of us.”

Alderdice said security measures alone could have, at best, a temporary impact, but will fail to solve the underlying issues.

“These are problems of relationships, and the only way they’re going to be resolved in the end is by people sitting down and talking with each other,” said Alderdice.

Nevertheless, satisfying negotiations will not come easily on either end. America wants to be seen as the protector of the free world, while Iran attempts to portray itself as an entity that will not cave in to American demands. On July 16, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced his opinion on Iranian State TV.

“Iran has decided to take part in negotiations but it will not accept any threat. Iran’s red lines are very clear,” Khamenei said, according to BBC News.

Obama is taking steps toward repairing relationships and ending America’s tyranny. But if McCain marches onto the multinational playing field by winning the election, there will likely be more than two guns blazing if he continues to reject unconditional diplomacy.

Comments

By Jermandro Broopkins on March 24th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

i cant believe how much soft tyranny all this spending is