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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Obama says Iran's energy concerns legitimate |
| 2009-06-02 |
| President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful. In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, he also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons. "What I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations," Obama said, adding that the international community also "has a very real interest" in preventing a nuclear arms race. The president has indicated a willingness to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it does not respond positively to U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama has said Tehran has until the end of the year to show it wants to engage with Washington. "Although I don't want to put artificial time tables on that process, we do want to make sure that, by the end of this year, we've actually seen a serious process move forward. And I think that we can measure whether or not the Iranians are serious," Obama said. Obama's interview offered a preview of a speech he is to deliver in Egypt this week, saying he hoped the address would warm relations between Americans and Muslims abroad. "What we want to do is open a dialogue," Obama told the BBC. "You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world. And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West." Obama leaves in the evening on a trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia aimed at reaching out to the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. He is due to make his speech in Cairo on Thursday. Obama sounded an optimistic note about making progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although he offered no new ideas for how he might try to secure a freeze on new building of Israeli settlements. The United States has called for a freeze, but Israeli leaders have rejected that. Asked what he would say during his visit about human rights abuses, including the detention of political prisoners in Egypt, Obama indicated no stern lecture would be forthcoming. He said he hoped to deliver the message that democratic values are principles that "they can embrace and affirm." Obama added that there is a danger "when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture." |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #10 he'd be a little less obvious? |
| Posted by: Oscar Hupineger7381 2009-06-02 21:18 |
| #9 If he was a muslim and intent on destroying the US with the support of the dems what would he do differently? |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2009-06-02 18:59 |
| #8 Does this jackass realize he's signaling "green light" to the Iranians to go nuclear and "red light" to the Israelis to stop them? Sigh, stupid question I know... Let's try again: Obama added that there is a danger "when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture." Does he realize that Israel doesn't give a shit about his little game? |
| Posted by: regular joe 2009-06-02 17:34 |
| #7 No, you see, Iblis, America has no right to nuclear power, or in fact, any power at all. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-06-02 17:25 |
| #6 Could we please reaffirm America's right to nuclear energy so we can get on with building new plants? |
| Posted by: Iblis 2009-06-02 15:55 |
| #5 Obama has said Tehran has until the end of the year to show it wants to engage with Washington. That could be all the time they need. Then what, O Great One? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-06-02 15:28 |
| #4 This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper. I do wish that whiny little wanker would STFU. |
| Posted by: TS Eliot 2009-06-02 15:05 |
| #3 Put a lot of thought into that comment, eh? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-06-02 14:27 |
| #2 Obama is a prick. |
| Posted by: Clegum Protector of the Welsh4635 2009-06-02 13:37 |
| #1 On June 4, Obama will apologize for Western opposition to: the first Muslim imperial phase against Byzantine Rome, et al; the Crusades; the anti-Reconquista; the Ottoman advance into Europe; Pirate pillage on the Barbary Coast. And he will do that in al-Azhar University, where much of the anti-Crusades jihad direction was planned. Will Americans discern the depth of the President's depravity? Will 6-4-9 become a day of infamy, like 9-11-1? |
| Posted by: Thrase Platypus1703 2009-06-02 13:31 |