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Bush’s UN Speech Signals Evolution in Iran Policy
Traffic on the east side of Manhattan was miserable Monday and yesterday because the UN General Assembly was starting its latest session. As usual, the statesman, politicians and rodeo clowns who run the various governments around the world turned up for their time in the spotlight. Rarely does anything significant come from their mouths, but yesterday, President George “LBJ” Bush said something about Iran that suggests he might not be a rodeo clown after all.
In the words of his speechwriter, Mr. Bush addressed the people of Iran directly:
To the people of Iran, the United States respects you. We respect your country. We admire your rich history, your vibrant culture and your many contributions to civilization [truthfully, few Americans can find Iran on a map let alone name a single facet of Iranian culture]. You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future, an economy that rewards your intelligence and your talents, and a society that allows you to fulfill your tremendous potential. The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons. The United Nations has passed a clear resolution requiring that the regime in Tehran meet its international obligations. Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
Despite what the regime tells you, we have no objection to Iran’s pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power program [emphasis added]. We’re working toward a diplomatic solution to this crisis. And as we do, we look to the day when you can live in freedom, and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace.
This could be the basis of a deal, if everyone involved is prepared to look the other way at the climb down the other side must make. In a nutshell, “U238 that goes boom is bad, U238 that turns the lights on is good.” The Busheviks have signaled their acceptance that Iran does have the right under international law to use fission to generate electricity. Iran now must accept that knowing how to build a bomb is its goal, rather than actually building one. South Africa had The Bomb and gave it up in the 1990s, but the technology is still there. If South Africa wants a nuke, it could probably assemble one in short order. The point is, it doesn’t feel the need to build one. Iran needs to move in that direction.
Whether this is possible under the reactionary regime in Tehran, and whether the White House isn’t merely posturing only to change its mind later, has yet to be seen. However, in this March of Folly, it’s good to see an attempt to turn around and walk the other way. One only hopes Mr. Bush really follows through; it would be nice to have a politician for a president rather than a rodeo clown; a statesman, though, appears out of the question for two more years.
© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.
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