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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Obama Slammed for Iran Outreach

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/11/11/obama-slammed-for-iran-outreach/


Obama Slammed for Iran Outreach

November 11, 2014

American neocons are furious that President Obama reportedly sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei apparently urging concessions on nuclear talks and referencing joint interests in combating Islamic State radicals, but the letter may reflect smart diplomacy, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.
By Paul R. Pillar
The bursts of criticism — from those who inveterately oppose any dealing with Iran, and those who inveterately oppose anything Barack Obama is doing, which include some of the same people — of a letter Mr. Obama reportedly sent to the supreme leader of Iran can readily be dismissed for multiple reasons.
There is, to begin with, the spectacle of critics getting up in arms about a letter the contents of which none of us outside the administration, including the critics, have seen. We only have a general sense, from the Wall Street Journal report that broke this story, of the message the letter conveyed.
There also is the old notion that merely communicating with another party, whether face-to-face or in writing, somehow shows weakness and/or is a reward to the other party. It is neither; communication is a tool for us to express and pursue our own preferences and objectives, and to explore ways to attain those objectives.http://consortiumnews.com/2014/11/11/obama-slammed-for-iran-outreach/

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