Liberty and Justice: My American Journal

A group of former government officials, diplomats, military officers, and nonproliferation experts issued a letter to President Obama calling for him to reinvigorate direct diplomatic engagement with Iran to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President, We write to convey our strongly held view that it is vitally important for U.S. and international security to reinvigorate direct diplomatic engagement with Iran to seek a resolution to the current standoff. We applaud your Administration’s success in uniting the international community in its response to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and its human rights violations, and we welcome recent statements by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon that your Administration remains committed to a diplomatic resolution with Iran. But in order to capitalize on the positive steps your Ad...

Are we reviving many of the same arguments that neoconservative proponents of armed intervention against Tehran had advanced during the latter years of George W. Bush's presidency? Is President Obama falling short of his own arguments for a robust diplomacy with Iran? US war advocates are using the same unsubstantiated arguments that Iran is developing nuclear arms to attack Israel. But should Iran develop the nuclear bomb? Appearing on the Charlie Rose show on PBS, Ehud Barak was asked if he would want nuclear weapons if he was an Iranian government minister. He said he probably would. “Probably, probably. I know it's not -- I don't delude myself that they are doing it just because of Israel. They look around, they see the Indians are nuclear, the Chinese are nuclear, the Pakistanis are nuclear, not to mention the Russians.” • And, Germany has approved the sale of another Dolphin-type military submarine to Israel and will pay for about a third of its cost, a senior Ger...