Remember this, from Obama’s first inaugural?
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. (Applause.)
Since then, the Iranian regime:
- stole an election and crushed opposition with bloody brutality, using paramilitaries to murder protestors;
- continued enriching uranium and working towards a nuclear weapon, in violation of UN resolutions;
- kept supporting terrorists–in Afghanistan against the US, and in Gaza and Lebanon against Israel;
- entered the Syrian civil war on the side of the murderous Assad regime, which used chemical weapons;
- held another rigged election and prevented true reformists from running in favor of a false “moderate.”
Sounds pretty “clenched fist” to me. What did the U.S. do in response? (via Anne Bayefsky):
- Obama’s 2009 UN speech: “I am committed to diplomacy that opens a path to greater prosperity and a more secure peace for [Iran] if…[it] lives up to [its] obligations.”
- Obama’s 2010 UN speech: “The United States… seek[s] a resolution to our differences with Iran, and the door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it.”
- Obama’s 2011 UN speech: “There’s a future of greater opportunity for the people…if the…[Iranian] government meet[s its] international obligations.”
- Obama’s 2012 UN speech: “America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so. But that time is not unlimited.”
The Obama also applied sanctions to Iran–reluctantly, after Congress had long since demanded them.
So Iran has clenched its fist ever more tightly, and Obama has kept extending the same hand.
It turns out Obama is on the wrong side of history. Only among children does paper beat rock.