Ahmadinejad: Obama's offer to talk shows U.S. failure

A.P. January 31, 2009

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

"Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.

After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".

In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

Iranian politicians frequently refer to the US administration as the "global arrogance", "domineering power" and "Great Satan".

Tensions with the United States have soared over Iran's nuclear drive and Ahmadinejad's vitriolic verbal attacks against Washington's close regional ally Israel.

Former US president George W. Bush refused to hold talks with the Islamic republic -- which he dubbed part of an "axis of evil" -- unless it suspended uranium enrichment, and never took a military option to thwart Tehran's atomic drive off the table.

The new administration of Obama has also refused to rule out any options -- including military strikes -- to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Iran denies any plans to build the bomb and insists its nuclear programme is solely aimed at peaceful ends.

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Lest there be any doubt, the 'rookie mistakes' by Obama have been piling up these last few weeks.  First with a bloated "economic stimulus" which is really a payoff to unions and the socialist hippies of the '60s and now Iran.

From a foreign policy perspective, the first sign of weakness on the part of the Obama Administration (and therefore the United States of America) was Obama's declaration that Gitmo would be closed.  The second sign of weakness was Obama's reaching out to Iran "without preconditions" to open a discourse.

Make no mistake about it, the Liberals will never learn: appeasement never works, period.  America has been weakened by a stupid, inept liberal rookie as President of the United States.  By the time this fool is done, he may end up making Jimmah Carter look like a genius by comparison.

-Ed.