NEWSMAX: GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul says “offering friendship” to Iran, not sanctions, would be a more fruitful to achieving peace with Tehran.
The Texas congressman says fears about Iran’s nuclear program have been “blown out of proportion.” He says tough penalties are a mistake because, as he says was the case in Iraq, they only hurt the local population and still paved a path to war.
When asked on “Fox News Sunday” what he would do to deter Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions, Paul said “maybe offering friendship to them.” … (more)
EDITOR: For what it is worth, an Iranian friend now living in the USA maintains that Iranians strongly oppose the current regime but tolerate it because they feel under attack by the USA. These views were expressed long before the ‘Arab Spring.’ So Paul may not be as nutty as he sounds.
We recall aged WV senator Robert Byrd pleading with the Senate not to support an invasion of Iraq. His sound advice was ignored as virtually every senator and congressman rushed to war.
We hope there are some direct conversations between the Obama administration and the Iranian government… that is, assuming that there are Iranian leaders who can speak both for the elected government and the ‘supreme’ theocracy.
The regime in Iran would like nothing more than an attack preferably by Israel. This will rally the people around the flag and at the same time allows the regime to crack down on all opposition including some with in the regime that are involved in an internal power struggle. An attack will play into their hand and will be as big a gift to them as the Iraq debacle was. I am astounded at the fact that a few turban headed mullahs whose only expertise is misinterpreting the Quran,can run rings around the worlds greatest power with all its sophistication. The great Roman empire suffered at the hands of the barbarians. To day the great and mighty America is out witted by a bunch of mullahs.
I say again that Radical Islam is a far greater threat to the west than Iran getting the bomb. An attack will delay Iran’s ambition to get the bomb. It will not prevent them from getting it. They already have the intellectual capital. That cannot be bombed away. The west should make sure that radical Islam does not spread. Its spread will harm the west as well as the Islamic countries. At one time Ahmadinejad a Sheite and a none Arab was very popular in the Arab countries. It is an aberration for a Persian and Sheite to be popular with the Arabs. He was liked and popular because of his vitriolic comments on Israel. Today the Turkish prime minister is liked and more popular than Ahmadinejad. Again although he is Sunni he is not an Arab. Why has he become popular with the Arabs, because he took on Israel. The Israeli Palestinian issue must be settled. This does not mean that settling that will mean middle east problems will go away. No, but fifty percent of the problem will go away. I know this is not the way Israelis and most Jews see it but believe me it is. The Arab Israeli issue is one of the main issues that gives fundamentalists traction in the Muslim world.