Ahmadinejad, Israel, and Obama

Hey, Obama! How's your "enemy outreach" strategy going?

Do you have an apology ready for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Are you ready to talk to him without preconditions as you promised you would?

Maybe when you meet with Ahmadinejad he'll give you a thoughtful gift, a book, The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry, by Arthur Butz, buddy of 9/11 conspiracy theorist and UW lecturer Kevin Barrett.

Are you ready to greet Ahmadinejad warmly? Big smile? Handshake?

Ahmadinejad is short. Will he get one of your signature bows?

Did you happen to catch what Ahmadinejad said today during a UN conference on racism?

GENEVA -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the West of using the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians, prompting European diplomats to walk out Monday from a speech disrupted by jeering protesters in rainbow wigs tossing red clown noses at the hardline leader.

A U.N. racism conference on the eve of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day disintegrated into chaos moments after Ahmadinejad became the first government official to take the floor. Two protesters in wigs tossed the noses at Ahmadinejad as he recited a Muslim prayer to begin his speech.

A Jewish student group from France later took credit for causing the disturbance, saying members were trying to convey "the masquerade that this conference represents."

Ahmadinejad restarted his talk and delivered a speech that lasted more than a half-hour, saying the United States and Europe had helped establish Israel after World War II at the expense of Palestinians.

"They resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering," he said.

...Ahmadinejad went on to accuse Israel of being the "most cruel and repressive racist regime."

...Ahmadinejad has been praised by some in the Muslim world for calling for Israel's destruction and for other anti-Israeli comments. The hard-liner has often used international forums to criticize Israel including at last year's U.N. General Assembly where he said Israel was on "a definite slope to collapse."

But his comments Monday could also further strain efforts to improve relations with the United States, Israel's top ally. Iran has been mostly lukewarm to overtures from President Barack Obama, but last week Ahmadinejad said the Islamic Republic was ready for a new relationship with Washington.

Ahmadinejad has been denying the Holocaust and calling for the destruction of Israel for years.

This is old material, nothing new.

But Ahmadinejad said that Iran wants a new relationship with Washington. Surely he would tone down the anti-Semitic rhetoric to appeal to Obama, the world's savior.

Nope. Didn't happen.

Ahmadinejad's remarks today were a direct challenge to Obama.

He was saying, "Talk to me, Obama. Shake my hand. Bow before me. I dare you."

Is Obama so naïve that he'll recognize Ahmadinejad, this evil man, this poor excuse for a human being?

Is Obama ready for a "goodwill" mission to Iran?

If he embraces Ahmadinejad, he will be spitting on the memory of every man, woman, and child slaughtered in the Holocaust. He'll be slapping the face of their surviving family members.
________________

BACKGROUND:

During the primaries, Barack Obama's Democrat opponents warned Americans that he was dangerously naïve on foreign policy.

Remember this?

Discussion of Obama's naïveté on foreign policy came to the fore on July 23, 2007 during the YouTube Debate.

QUESTION: "[W]ould you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?"

OBAMA: "I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration - is ridiculous."

Bad answer.

Hillary took a different position.

HILLARY: Well, I will not promise to meet with the leaders of these countries during my first year. I will promise a very vigorous diplomatic effort because I think it is not that you promise a meeting at that high a level before you know what the intentions are. I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes.

Following the debate, both Hillary and Obama spoke with the Quad-City Times.

Of Obama’s comment, [Hillary] said: “I thought that was irresponsible and frankly naive.”

Her campaign later circulated a memo to reporters saying it was a “mistake” to commit to presidential-level meetings without precondition "with some of the world's worst dictators" and portrayed her remarks as showing her depth of experience.

Obama, in a separate interview with the Times, vigorously defended his comments.

“What she’s somehow maintaining is my statement could be construed as not having asked what the meeting was about. I didn’t say these guys were going to come over for a cup of coffee some afternoon,” he said.

He added Clinton is making a larger point.

“From what I heard, the point was, well, I wouldn’t do that because it might allow leaders like Hugo Chavez to score propaganda points,” he said. “I think that is absolutely wrong.”

He likened the position to a continuation of the Bush administration diplomatic policies. And he said what was “irresponsible and naive” was voting to authorize the Iraq War.

Hillary wasn't the only Democrat to call Obama naïve on the foreign policy front.

Joe Biden did, too.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman and presidential candidate Joe Biden has joined the gang piling on Barack Obama for proposing possible intervention in Pakistan to pursue Al Qaeda -- using the same word Hillary Clinton used to criticize Obama's eagerness to negotiate with dictators: naïve.

In an interview on The Diane Rehm Show this morning, Biden told guest host Susan Page of USA Today the following:

"… in order to look tough, he's undermined his ability to be tough, were he president. Because if you're going to go into Pakistan -- which is already our policy by the way, if there's actionable intelligence -- you need actionable intelligence from moderates within Pakistan working with you. Now if you're already going to say I'm going to disregard whatever the country thinks and going to invade, the likelihood you're getting the cooperation you need evaporates. It's a well intended notion he has, but it's a very naïve way of figuring out how you're going to conduct foreign policy."

Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were right.

Obama's promise to talk to Iran without preconditions was a BIG mistake.