02:49 pm
Quote of the Day: Iran, Obama, and the Hard Right
The American Conservative’s Daniel Larison on the hard right’s unhappiness with Obama’s Iran policy:
Americanists believe that any statement from the President that fails to build up and anoint Mousavi as the preferred candidate is discouraging to Mousavi and his supporters, because they apparently cannot grasp that being our preferred candidate is to be tainted with suspicion of disloyalty to the nation.
It is strange how nationalists often have the least awareness of the importance of the nationalism of another people. Many of the same silly people who couldn’t say enough about Hamas’ so-called “endorsement” of Obama as somehow indicative of his Israel policy views, as well as those who could not shut up about his warm reception in Europe, do not see how an American endorsement of a candidate in another country’s election might be viewed with similiar and perhaps even greater distaste by the people in that country.
This is an excellent point. As a friend said to me, the hard right’s strategy has more to do with pushing Obama to take engagement off the table than it does about supporting the Greens.
I still believe that Obama has chosen the right path so far. I think that talking to a Khameni-Ahmadinejad-led Iran would damage both the Greens and our own credibility. But it’s far too early to suggest that talk is off the table. Although, as I noted in my previous post, regime change is increasingly unlikely and there is no good reason not to try to isolate Iran, the reality is that China, Russia, Syria, Hezbollah, and other actors will not disengage.
That changes the dynamic, and argues even more for the Administration’s current line.
And yes, I recognize the internal contradiction between what I’m saying here and what I said in my last post. That’s because my previous post represents my hopes and this one represents my recognition of reality.
I don’t want to see the United States (or anyone else for that matter) engage with these vicious bastards. But given the fact that two of the P5+1 already have recognized the election results, idealism is no substitute for the way the world actually works.