April 10, 2012

U.S.-Iran Talks: Set Up To Crash And Burn

 The U.S. ultimatum to Iran: Surrender or Die.

The United States and Iran will meet in Istanbul on Saturday, April 14, to discuss Iran's nuclear program and other issues.

But don't hold your breath. The likelihood of a compromise from both sides is very low. Many informed analysts believe that the list of demands by the Obama administration to Iran are deliberately high and unrealistic so as to make Iran look like the one who is spoiling the good vibes and unwilling to commit to peace.

Paul R. Pillar, a former CIA official, summed up the nature of the talks by saying:
The Western message to Tehran seems pretty clear: we might be willing to tolerate some sort of Iranian nuclear program, but only one consisting of facilities that would suffer significant damage if we, or the Israelis, later decide to bomb it. In other words, we insist on holding Iranian nuclear facilities hostage to armed attack. Not the sort of formula that inspires trust among Iranian leaders and gives them much incentive to move toward an agreement.
If the goal is to further the deadlock between Iran and the West then the Obama administration's strategy of high demands will succeed, and pave the way for war. Trita Parsi, the director of the National Iranian American Council, says: "The problem is not necessarily the demands, but the imbalance between what is demanded and what is offered."

On Sunday, April 8, Richard Silverstein of Tikun Olam wrote:
First thing to note, successful negotiations don’t usually begin with one side making demands of the other.  Second, the U.S. position dooms the talks before they begin.  Not only is there is no way on earth Iran will agree to any of them, it won’t even take the demands seriously.  Since its government knows how this game is played it will invent outrageous demands of its own, the talks will fail, everyone will go home, and the extremists on both sides will say they tried and now let whatever happens happens.  And “whatever” will undoubtedly be an armed confrontation of some kind.
America is taking the Godfather's approach to diplomacy, making offers that amount to: surrender, or die. That is not statesmanship; that is thuggery. Is the whole world supposed to be afraid of the Big Bad America and collapse at its feet of clay like slaves? Death is a better option.

The U.S. stand-off against Iran is so crazy because Iran already compromised, twice, but the U.S. rejected Iran both times.

In 2003, shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iran offered America the "Grand Bargain" but the Bush administration spat in the face of Iran and told it to go to hell.

The second time was in May 2010, when Brazil and Turkey reached an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program after President Obama specifically requested that they get together and strike a deal, according to Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett of the website The Race For Iran. But President Obama quickly turned his back on the deal and decided instead to impose sanctions on Iran. That is why Obama is known as a two-faced rat

Obama and his masters always wanted to bomb Iran. The peace talks is just a stalling tactic. How can anyone trust two-faced rats like Obama and Netanyahu to sit down like gentlemen and make peace? They have no respect for Iran or for any nation. Like Bush and Cheney, Obama deserves the death penalty, not a Nobel peace prize.