Another thing that serves a vestige that Obama may well be a mordern day messiah came just a few days after his election, when the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sent a letter of congratulations to president elect Obama. Why is that so significant? The diplomats will gladly explain that that defies the norms of diplomatic relations, considering the artic cold relations that exist between the U.S. and Iran presently. So at least Iran showed some form of warming up to America and to Barack Obama. For what it is worth, Ahmadinejad may have believed that Obama may be a messiah afterall. That to me, was a golden opportunity to let the past be the past and look forward to a bright and shining morning of gold for all. For the president of a seemingly hostile nation to extend such warm wishes to a man who will become the president of America was a very significant move and it is noteworthy that Ahmadinejad could have displeased the radical elements of his nation by making such a move. But what did Barack Obama do to such a gesture? To me, he blew the golden chance in a huge way.
In his first news conference as president elect, a reporter asked him of what he would do about the letter sent him by the Iranian president and Mr. Obama replied by first stating that America should not forget about the ways of Iran and their desire to acquire nuclear weapons as well as their sponsorship of terrorrism. Then he went on to say that he would take a look at the letter and give it an appropriate response. To the casual observer, that was a well thought through answer and maybe that did help his approval ratings quite a bit. But to the pundit, to the keen observer, to the critical ear that listens and scrutinises, that was a huge blunder. Someone might have screamed "and there goes a huge opportunity" and yes I do agree with that sentiment.
I do not blame Mr. Obama for his position because like most of the American population, he has been told by the once credible intelligence agencies that there is so much happening in Iran. Well, that may be true but critcally, it may also be false and that is why this blunder was one that is very critical and shameful. The facts are that it was these same intelligence agencies that said Iraq had nuclear weapons and so war should be taken to them and five years on, not a single capsule powerful enough to destroy my big head has been found. It was these same agencies that promised a quick and fast war that has so far lasted five years and has no end in sight. I guess we have a new definition of quick and fast then. It was these same agencies that failed to act on the subtle but reliable information it received on the 9/11 attacks and the result is something we all want to remain in the past and out of our memories. The point I am making is that these intelligence agencies have been known to make some very serious blunders and so their recomendations and practices should be questioned a bit. They are now saying that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons and that it wants to wipe Israel of the map. There is a huge claim that Ahmadinejad has made so many anti-semitic remarks and comments but the question I ask is that are those really true?
Just last year, in his appearnce at Columbia University, Mahmoud Ahamdinejad categorically stated that he had never made such remarks and that his statements were taken out of context to pursue an overall agenda. That is an eye opener because seriously speaking how many of us have an understanding of the persian language? So all we know is what we are told right? But we have an interpreter who has shown in the past that he can make a few "changes' to help him
pursue an agenda so should we totally trust him?
And let's even assume that yes Iran is pursuing a nuclear arsenal. By showing an interest in peace at change, would it not have been more appropriate for Mr. Obama to have just acknowledged the effort and said he looks forward to working with them in pursuing the agenda of peace? Well he made another critical error. Another blunder. He blew it. Let us all pray that God grants him a second chance at that because Ahmadinejad stated in his letter wisely that "opportunities that are granted human are shortlived ."
In what I regard as a statement of how Iran will deal with an Obama led U.S., he shut down a weekly newspaper that carried a picture of the president elect after his gesture of peace was presumably rebuffed.
However, I do not believe that all is lost on this case. We all just have to pray that things change. As to the question : " can we change this situation?", there is only one answer. YES WE CAN.
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