It’s The Diplomacy, Stupid
Roxana Saberi, the American journalist who was in jail in Iran for five months, charged with spying, has been freed by an appeals court, her eight-year prison sentence suspended. We may never know for sure, but I’d like to believe a new tone of diplomacy toward Iran may have contributed to a positive resolution to this potentially disastrous situation.
Iran’s about-face clears a major snag in the Obama administration’s efforts to engage Iran in a dialogue after decades of shunning the country. Washington had called the charges against Saberi baseless and repeatedly demanded her release.
Saberi’s father was born in Iran, and her parents, Reza and Akiko Sabeari (above) now live in Fargo. For the last six years, Saberi worked as a freelance journalist for NPR and the BBC. Several countries and human rights groups had demanded her release.
All the carping on MSNBC this morning about how America is a more dangerous place since Obama took over. Whatever.
I’m sure the neocons will take this as a sign that Obama’s now lovey-dovey with Iran. They’d probably be happier if her head had been pinched off, it would have fed their fear-mongering efforts.
bobfrommadison Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Meanwhile, the march towards nuclear weapons and further destabilization continues…
IT’S NOT A GAMESHOW!
Sarah Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
When I was a tyke and watching Reagan shore up a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons in an arms race against Russia, it didn’t feel like a game show THEN, either.
craig7120 Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Exactly Sarah, some cant seem to get their head around why other nations need a weapon.
Ok the rights mission statement:
let me see if I can understand this mentality. Iran is trying to get a weapon (Nuke/gun) So we need to make more weapons, in case they make more weapons? N. Korea has the weapon(nuke) but we need to out number their weapons? Hmmmmm if my enemy moved next door to me with a tank im sure none of you would blame me for buying a tank, right? Or make it simpler for simpler minds, Im thinking N. Korea and Iran are embracing that good ole american right to bear arms.
Nice world uh ?
Sarah Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Exactamundo.
Kregg Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Craig said: Or make it simpler for simpler minds, Im thinking N. Korea and Iran are embracing that good ole american right to bear arms. Nice world uh ?
K: Hey, I got a good Lib idea: lets get rid of our nukes to show good will and maybe these to belligerant nations will get rid of theirs also. Oh, I feel so warm and fuzzy now… ;-)
EricG Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Who said this was a game show!?!
That implies that people here do not understand how serious this national situation is these days. If you are not implying that then I apologize.
But if so then you should understand that at least I have a full understanding of how serious (some) issues we talk about here on Liberaland are.
Our very freedom is discussed here. Our society, our laws. Not many things more serious than that.
Daddio Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Three words that I totally agree with were spoken by Ronald Reagan:
“PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH”
That is the only way to keep peace.
OldLefty Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Yes, but everything Reagan did that ACTUALLY served that cause,( talking to Gorbachev, he offered Leonid Brezhnev a spot on US TV, if he could speak on Soviet TV, he got out of Beirut and nuclear arms reduction), Republicans hate, AND savage Obama for.
Daddio Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Sometimes I wonder about you Sarah. To think conservatives would rather see her pinched off in order to have a reason criticize the Obama Adm.
Don’t need that Sarah. There are a myriad of reasons Obama is giving the conservatives to criticize.
Daddio Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 9:26 am
But Obama isn’t going in to talk to Iran through strength. He is talking about reducing our arms and the day after North Korea fired their rocket he announced that he was cutting funding for our missile defense program. That is not “Peace through strength”. It is actually going in in a weakened stance. That is the difference between Reagan and Obama on this issue.
OldLefty Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 9:49 am
“But Obama isn’t going in to talk to Iran through strength.”
That’s only a matter of opinion.
I think that ALL the policies that you call strength have actually weakened us:
It is where Bush, Ahmadinejad, Cheney, Castro are all like baboons, beating their chests and throwing rhetorical feces at each other….feeding off of each other.
The fact is the United States spent most of the eight years before last January making things easy for its enemies. It was in the ammunition-supply business.
Nothing comforted U.S. foes as much as Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, axis-of-evil moral certitude and the schoolyard politics of punishment.
All you had to do, from Moscow to Caracas, was point a finger toward the White House and domestic woes paled. All you had to do, in the recruitment schools of Waziristan and Ramadi, was show video footage of Americans humiliating Muslims. Even among allies, nobody much wanted to help the former administration.
Syria, like many Arab states, is already worried about losing out to any American-Iranian détente.
Conversely, Iran worries that it might lose its Syrian ally (and conduit to Hezbollah and Hamas) as a result of Obama’s Middle East peace effort. The fact is Syria’s interests in Iraq after a U.S. withdrawal will diverge from Iran’s: Syria’s priority is an Iraq in the Arab sphere.
Sarah Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:37 am
And Daddio, I used to wonder about neocons like you, who chased (are chasing, in fact) moderate Republicans like ME out of the party.
But I don’t really wonder about neocons like you anymore. It’s pretty clear you’re all high on your own egos, even in the face of destroying the GOP.
Nope, I just vote either Democrat or Independent when it comes to national elections. And I’m finding myself more inclined to vote D on state and local issues anymore, as well.
Glad the party doesn’t miss me, because the way it’s going, I don’t miss it a bit.
Well, that’s not true. I’m hoping the GOP might give me a reason to vote Republican again, but it doesn’t seem likely for another 10 years or so.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:05 am
I was glad to hear this news, and I do think that the new tone had something to do with her release. Just a gut feeling at this point, but you I bet it’s correct.
average james Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
I bet her parents are very happy. It must have been very difficult for them.
Sarah Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Agreed, in spades.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:06 am
That lady would be dead under Bush/Cheney or end up in jail for life. John Wayne is Hollywood and that wisdom is costing us plenty of dollars in taxes.
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 3:05 am
that’s a great bait line Steve.
Sarah Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Here’s my favorite neocon bait line: “The UNfairness Doctrine!”
“*sob!* They’re trying to make us air BOTH sides of an issue! *sob!* It’s so UNFAIR!”
Um Cara Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:55 am
They’re trying to make us air BOTH sides of an issue!
Most issues have more than two sides.
the ‘Fairness’ doctrine isn’t particularly fair. If ‘two’ sides of an issue ‘MUST’ be presented, why not all 5,000,000 points of view on an issue?
Or why not just have free speech and not force any particular view to be aired.
VegasLib Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Agreed here. Free speech and the right to an opinion are American rights. You cannot force somebody to contradict himself by talking both sides. Same goes for the airways.
Sarah Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Under the Fairness Doctrine, no one was ever asked to contradict themselves.
Sarah Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
That’s right, Um Cara. Many issues DO have more than two sides. It’s a shame that the fight against the Fairness Doctrine discourages airing even 2 sides, and allows our public airwaves to be little more than tools for propoganda.
Um Cara Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
and allows our public airwaves to be little more than tools for propoganda.
Some government agency ruling on what the two government approved ’sides’ are, and that they have been equally represented is somehow a blow against propaganda?
Limit media ownership within a market, support net neutrality – those seem to me to be of more value than some Orwellian ‘fairness’ doctrine.
Um Cara Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
*though when you get down to it, there really are only two sides to an issue. My side, and the wrong side. I guess as long as my side is one of the two ’sides’ represented, I can support a ‘fairness’ doctrine.
Sarah Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
And yet, the Fairness Doctrine worked in this country for years and years– precisely because the sides did NOT have to have “government approval.” That’s a fallacy.
Stations were simply held more accountable when they were presenting controversial issues for public information and discussion. They didn’t have to give equal time for opposing views, they had to present contrasting viewpoints.
The Fairness Doctrine equals FREEDOM of speech, if anything. And I’m all for taking back our public airwaves.
Um Cara Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
And yet, the Fairness Doctrine worked in this country for years and years
What is your definition of ‘worked’? Very few opinion shows? Bruce Williams was OK radio, for the time – and granted, Paul Harvey was greatness, but I don’t see how creating the conditions that will lead to the end of opinion radio is much of a cause to get behind.
The Fairness Doctrine equals FREEDOM of speech, if anything. And I’m all for taking back our public airwaves.
Then get behind net neutrality, public airwaves are so ’80s. It’s bandwidth just waiting to be reallocated, analog radio is dead, it just doesn’t know it yet.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:09 am
WHAT,WHERE,HOW,and WOW!
It’s goodnews.
So what if Obama takes credit for it. It’s good news.
OldLefty Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Great News!
Who said Obama took credit for it?
Alan said he would like to think…
RDM Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I said: “So what IF Obama takes credit for it”. It’s good news.
Alan can think whatever.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Obviously the leadership of Iran was so terrified by the distant, fading echoes of BushCo’s tyrant bullying that they felt compelled to surrender Ms. Saben.
And there’s this bridge in Brooklyn.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Saberi is free!
Good stuff.
“We may never know for sure, but I’d like to believe a new tone of diplomacy toward Iran may have contributed to a positive resolution to this potentially disastrous situation”
I’d like to think so too but more likely it was a gesture for the international community rather than us.
Most people across the world agree with me that these were trumped up charges against a political prisoner. She was probably set free as a show of mercy or fairness.
average james Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
We’re part of the international community.
You’re right, I think this will probably be used as a feather in the cap of “merciful” Iran.
Seems like a good spin oppurtunity for Iran.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
OFF TOPIC: Damn you Alan ! I still have ABBA tunes in my head !
steve Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Myself as well and i could not hit the stop button fast enough to stop the ABBA madness.
Sarah Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
C’mon, guys, it’s a free-skate. Lace ‘em up and join me under the strobe light. Skate-limbo’s next.
———-
If you change your mind, I’m the first in line
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you’ve got no place to go, if you’re feeling down
If you’re all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain’t no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try
Budda Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
What the Hell, I’m so there already…
steve Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Sarah
You causing me to have PTSD.
Sarah Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
PTSD– Post Traumatic SKATING Disorder? Chaaa!
Oo! Oo! Pick me for the East Side – West Side slow skate.
“I got a brand new pair of roller skates, You got a brand new keyyyyyy…..”
steve Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
God Bless you Sarah. I like the Melenie song.
Sarah Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Good! Feel better?
If you’re still thinking the Melanie song tomorrow, I can write you a prescription for a new song fixation.
“Green Acres,” perhaps. “Sanford & Son” has high-quality staying power, as well. Any song by Jackson Browne (Running on Empty, Lawyers in Love).
Personally, I’m thinking “Cover of the Rolling Stone.” I’m partial to southern rock.
craig7120 Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Yep… Im partial to the bugs bunnys overture:
Overture, curtain, lights,
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing our parts
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtain, lights
This is it, we’ll hit the heights
And oh what heights we’ll hit
On with the show this is it.
TDro319 Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Please! Enough Abba! I’ll tell you anything you want to know, just make it stop!
Kregg Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
TD said: Please! Enough Abba! I’ll tell you anything you want to know, just make it stop!
K: Now, waterboarding may not actually be a torture technique but ABBA CERTAINLY is on the list! Probably sung in the original Swedish on acoustic equipment and tinny speakers.
May 11th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
[...] Kala Dowlatshahi of Reporters Without Borders discusses Iran’s decision to release American journalist Roxana [...]
May 11th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I’m personally inclined to believe Pres. Obama’s approach didn’t help here..
The timeline is that she was arrested in January shortly after the inauguration. Then in March, Pres. Obama makes his overtures to a new era with Iran. Then in April her charges get upgraded to ’spying’ and she is convicted in a trial lasting less than an hour. Now, she is apparently released after the Iranian ‘justice’ system worked its course.
I fully support the new approach with Iran but I think this particular incident was not exactly Iran ‘caving to pressure’. Instead it seems to me to be quite the opposite – a show of strength and warning to any real dissidents or people intending to try and destabilize their regime, that it won’t be tolerated by the current leadership.
JaredfromTexas Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
LEE,
Her lawyer said her release was a triumph of justice…and not a triumph of politics. It’s just nice to know that some things aren’t politically motivated.
Lee Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Sorry, but I’m a peace-loving, liberal with faith in the overall goodness of humanity but even I’m cynical that such a thing as an independent ‘justice’ system exists in Iran.
If you believe there was no political involvement here then lets say we definitely disagree on that point.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:08 pm