A Letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama,

As this is my first letter to you, I would like to congratulate you on your victory over Senator McCain in November’s election. You ran a very impressive campaign and inspired numerous disinterested citizens to become passionate advocates for you and your ideas.

While some of them believed in the direction you wanted to take our country, I think that even you would admit that the majority of them were more taken with your oratory skills and your dramatic performances in public events than with your policies. In fact, you not only inspired legions of Americans with your impressive speaking abilities, but the rest of the world as well, as shown in the enormous crowd that came to hear you speak in Germany and the jubilant celebrations following your victory that occurred all over the world.

With those events undoubtedly still fresh in your mind, it is quite understandable that you would believe that you are capable of convincing anyone to do anything by merely speaking to them in the eloquent manner that enraptured citizens the world over.

Mr. President, I’m sorry, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

While I admire your self-confidence, your message to Iran's supreme clerical leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials was not only dangerous, but also embarrassing.

Dangerous in the sense that it portrayed us as weak and afraid of Iran…something that the Iranians obviously sensed and will seize upon. It also shifted the momentum in our relationship from us to them. By allowing them to reject your overtures to speak with them, you have not only given them credibility, but you have shifted the onus to us to come up with better terms for the Iranians in any future negotiations. I simply cannot understand this approach.

Embarrassing in the sense that the speech was filled with fluff, pathetic and overdone compliments and no clear purpose or theme besides a naively simplistic and idealistic idea of peace. The compliments were especially difficult to listen to as they were given in such an excessive manner that it reminded me of a teenage girl describing her latest crush. Endlessly praising the Persian culture without even mentioning the atrocities it has been responsible for over the past three decades is not only disgraceful, but also terribly disrespectful to the people that have suffered and died at the hands of this oppressive, tyrannical regime.

On top of all of that, you tried to make a rational appeal to a group of irrational people… an approach that is inherently doomed to fail.

You also made the false assumption that the Iranian government wants to be part of the worldwide community and work towards a peaceful coexistence with everyone else. There is absolutely no evidence of this as Iran has done nothing but act on behalf of its own self-interests by committing acts of terrorism, supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing the region by attacking its neighbors in an attempt to enhance its own standing over the past three decades. Surely, Mr. President, you must recognize this fact.

It is my opinion, Mr. President, that you stop handling Iran with kid gloves and start addressing the problem with some solutions that actually have a chance to work.

Some examples would be:

· Working to block gasoline supplies to Iran. With their inability to refine the oil that they produce, this action would cripple their fledgling economy, add to the unrest that already exists among the Iranian citizens and shift the balance of power back to us in this relationship.

· Support an Israeli air strike that would take out the Iranian nuclear weapons program. While this may be too late, it would at worst set the program back by a significant amount of time and, at best, it could potentially eliminate the entire program altogether.

· Take out the Iranian nuclear program ourselves. We have plenty of military personal and equipment in the region as it is and it could be easily accomplished. Additionally, it would reiterate our insistence that no rogue regimes possess nuclear weapons…undoubtedly, North Korea would recognize the consequences of such actions.

I know that these actions are neither nice nor friendly, but we are far beyond the point of diplomacy as Iran may already have developed a nuclear weapon. Moreover, with their collaboration with the North Koreans and their missile program, the ramifications of an aggressive Iranian policy would have positive ripple effects to other aspects of our foreign policy.

I ask that you please act like the thoughtful and pragmatic person you purport to be and consider these actions.

Yours truly,

John

I just hope he gives this message more consideration than the Iranians gave his.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John