[Peace-discuss] Would It Kill Us to Apologize to Iran for the Coup?

[E. Wayne Johnson]

I don't expect them to apologize any time soon,
but at the same time I don't value such an
apology as having any real value. 

To me, such an apology is just empty words, of the "Talk is cheap & I 
love you is Free" variety.

Much more valuable would be a real change in policy, closing of bases, 
and coming home,
which would speak meaningful volumes more that "We're soooooo sorry, 
Uncle al-Arabiya..."

*

Obama's appointments are surprisingly poor, even from the standpoint of one
of his unrelenting detractors (like me).  You could hardly imagine much 
worse
than Rahmbo, Hillary, Gates, Geithner, Ray LaHood,...  It's almost too 
surreal
to make accessible comedy.

Robert Naiman wrote:
> whenever someone suggests that the US apologize for something, some
> people always say: but this would open the floodgates. i don't accept
> this argument, either on moral or practical grounds.
>
> on moral grounds: it suggests that we should not do something right,
> because it would "open the floodgates" for other demands that we do
> something right.
>
> on practical grounds: after Clinton "near-apologized" for the US role
> in Guatemala, life went on. There is little evidence that life as we
> know it would grind to a halt if the US acknowledged what it did in
> Iran in 1953 and after.
>
> On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 2:33 PM, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>   
>> Good points, Bob... And you could extend that: most Americans have little
>> knowledge of the history of US foreign OR domestic policy, period... and
>> little sensitivity even when they do e g, Manifest Destiny/Native Americans.
>>
>> Amazing to me that Obama admitted he "screwed up" re not knowing about the
>> Daschle taxes thing, but stood by his nomination, saying he'd have made a
>> good sect'y of HHS.
>>
>> Re Obama's apologising for US behavior twds Iran, well, that would open the
>> floodgates for other nations (esp in the ME) to demand apologies as well. So
>> I think it'd better for him to take an open, honest and concilliatory
>> approach twds Iran (and other wronged countries) going forward (as they
>> say), and (especially) to immediately give orders for the US to stop doing
>> things (e g occupying Iraq, fighting in Afghanistan, bombing Pakistan) that
>> need a lot more than apologies.
>>  --Jenifer
>>
>> --- On Wed, 2/4/09, Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> From: Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Peace-discuss] Would It Kill Us to Apologize to Iran for the Coup?
>> To: "peace discuss" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>> Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 1:08 PM
>>
>> When President Obama told al-Arabiya, "if countries like Iran are
>> willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from
>> us," the most widely reported Iranian response was President
>> Ahmedinijad's suggestion that if the U.S. truly wants good relations
>> with Iran, it should begin by apologizing for U.S. "crimes" against
>> Iran, including U.S. support for the coup that overthrew Iranian
>> democracy in 1953. Not surprisingly, there hasn't exactly been a
>> groundswell of popular support in the United States for President
>> Ahmadinejad's suggestion...
>>
>> Of course, if you know anything about the United States, you wouldn't
>> leap to the conclusion that Americans, as a country, are a bunch of
>> jerks who can't admit when they've done anything wrong. Most Americans
>> have little knowledge about the history of U.S. foreign policy in the
>> Middle East. As far as they know, the U.S. hasn't done anything wrong.
>> So why should we apologize?
>> ....
>> There is a close precedent. In 1999, President Clinton gave a
>> "near-apology" for the U.S. role in Guatemala's civil war. If
>> President Clinton could "near-apologize" for the U.S. role in
>> Guatemala, is it beyond the realm of imagination that President Obama
>> could "near-apologize" for the U.S. overthrow of democracy and
>> support
>> of dictatorship in Iran?
>>
>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/would-it-kill-us-to-apolo_b_163957.html
>>
>> http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/4/134155/4104
>>
>> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39545
>>
>> --
>> Robert Naiman
>> Just Foreign Policy
>> www.justforeignpolicy.org
>> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>
>>
>>     
>
>
>
>   
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