We hate to say "I told you so," but...

From the time he said he would talk to Iran people had criticized Obama. His stance is that you can't be afraid to try new things when it comes to diplomacy. Even George Washington said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that you can't let old hatreds dictate your future course. However, Iran, and particularly their president, Amanutjob, aren't an "old hatred." They're a very current hatred, in that they hate the United States. They close their prayers on Fridays with "death to America" and have done so since 1979. The only thing they hate worse than the United States is Israel.

Earlier this week Obama has gone public saying that when the US deals with the middle east we too often "dictate first" and listen last. This statement makes the US appear to be weak, and that goes much deeper than an ego thing. Barely a day later, Amanutjob had this to say:

"Those who say they want to make change, this is the change they should make: they should apologize to the Iranian nation and try to make up for their dark background and the crimes they have committed against the Iranian nation,"

Crimes? What crimes has the US committed against Iran? According to Amanutjob, the crimes are criticizing and trying to block their nuclear program. (For you "America is a country of oppression" folks out there, note that to Iran, criticism is considered a crime. Think about that next time you're calling for Bush to be prosecuted and have no fear of reprisal!) Iran's former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who seems to be somewhat less crazy than their current one (Rafsanjani at least acknowledges the holocaust happened), says this about their nuclear program:

"We are not bothering anyone, but we have acquired nuclear expertise and we want to benefit from it to improve our life."

But he also says this:

"Look, as long as we can enrich uranium and master the fuel cycle, we don’t need anything else. Our neighbors will be able to draw the proper conclusions."

And this:

"If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything. However, it will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality."

So what are we to believe? That one of the most oil rich nations in the world, who can produce electricity far cheaper with petroleum than with nuclear power, wants to use nuclear power peacefully, or that they want to build a weapon to destroy Israel? Since they've said they want to destroy Israel, and a nuclear bomb being set off inside Israel is "an eventuality," and we are to draw the "proper conclusions" about their nuclear program, it doesn't take Pythagoras to figure this one out.

Obama has this overriding desire to be liked. Nations are not so different from canines in that they need a leader, they need an Alpha so they know their place. A pack without an Alpha is going to have a fight for power. Being liked by all doesn't equate to leadership; and furthermore, it's not possible to make every nation want to be friendly with the US. But that's what Obama wants to do, so he adopts this posture of diplomacy, which is like a dog rolling over and exposing it's belly to show it's not a threat. And now, with our belly exposed lest we appear to be trying to be the alpha dog, we're being asked to apologize to a nation that has openly expressed it's hatred of the United States and has openly expressed the desire to destroy one of our allies. Like a frat boy being spanked and saying "thank you sir may I have another," we're being asked to apologize for trying to stop them from acquiring the means to effect that destruction. Nice...I only hope Israel can survive 4 years of this kind of diplomacy.