Whether or not we would find ourselves engaged in a shooting war with Iran has been an open question since at least 2007 if not earlier thanks to Bush-era hard-lining and saber-rattling, but things may be taking a distinctive turn for the better.
During his speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly today, President Obama announced that he has directed Secretary of State John Kerry to pursue a peace deal with the Iranians.
“We should be able to achieve a resolution that respects the rights of the Iranian people while giving the world confidence that the Iranian program is peaceful,” Obama said during a speech before the United Nations General Assembly. [...]
“The roadblocks may prove to be too great, but I firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested,” Obama said.
If Syria’s chemical weapons program is dismantled without dropping a single U.S. bomb, and if the president is able to negotiate a deal with Iran that satisfies their regional adversaries, I believe those who consistently mock the president’s Nobel peace prize should eat a giant bowl of crow.
As should those who have come to believe that the president is somehow a worse-than-bush warmonger who loves blowing up Arabs.
That sounds like a caricature, and it is, but there are those on the left who actually believe that. It’s time for them to grow up and accept that the world is a complicated place.
There are several big “ifs” at stake here, but it may already be more than his predecessors have accomplished in the past 30 years. 30 years of distrust and suspicion, as the president noted during his speech today.
“I don’t believe this difficult history can be overcome overnight,” Obama said. “The suspicions run too deep, but I do believe if we can resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear program that can serve as a major step down a long road toward a different relationship–one based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”
A hard-reset of relations may be exactly what is needed.