Sunday, August 19, 2007

When Will We Take Off The Blinders Regarding Islam?

Michael Ledeen has a very insightful article in the Wall Street Journal (Read) where he lays out how American negotiators have held talks with the the Iranians since 1979 after the Iranian revolution, through the administrations of Reagan, Clinton and now President Bush.

"For some time now, the chattering classes have debated whether the United States should negotiate with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Both sides have endowed the very act of negotiating with near-mythic power."

"The advocates suggest that "good relations" may emerge, while opponents warn it is somehow playing into the mullahs' hands. Both seem to believe that the three recent talks in Baghdad are historically significant, since they are said to be a departure from past practice.

"That claim is false. Every administration since Ayatollah Khomeini's seizure of power in 1979 has negotiated with the Iranians. Nothing positive has ever come of it, but most every president has come to believe that a "grand bargain" with Tehran can somehow be reached, if only we negotiate well enough.

"U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, first left, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, top center, and Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi, first right, during security talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Baghdad Monday, May 28, 2007.

"Washington diplomats have steadfastly refused to see the Iranian regime for what it is: a relentless enemy that seeks to dominate or destroy us. This blindness afflicted the first American negotiators shortly after the 1979 revolution, and has been chronic ever since, even though Iran declared war on us in that year and has waged it ever since." (Read).

When will our leaders learn? The Iranian mullahs are not interested in talk - they want to kill - annihilate us because we represent everything they are not. We represent the good, the modern and the rational. While we exist their utopia of a world wide caliphate cannot come to fruition. Let's take off the blinders and face reality as it is.

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