Obama on Iran: it's not a football game to win or lose--it's about solving a problem

At a press conference after the G20 wrap up in Pittsburg today, Chip Reid, Chief White House correspondent for CBS news asked the president a two part question.

First, did the president consider the unity shown by the US, France, and the United Kingdom on condemning Iran for the uranium enrichment deception—a victory. Secondly, Reid bristled when he asked why it took so long to confront Iran on the secret facility.

“It’s not a football game,” replied Obama. “It’s not about claiming victory it’s about solving a problem.”

The president went on to explain why the three agencies, (US, France, and the UK)and the coordinated efforts took the time they did, because their governments wanted to “make sure it was right and thoroughly scrubbed intelligence to be positive about the results."

After all, it was flawed intelligence that Bush used to launch an attack on Iraq. So, it would make sense for global intelligence agencies to be more thorough and be absolutely sure of what they are reporting, when it was on something as important as the manufacture of nuclear fuel.

On September 25, 2009, the issue of peace and stability around the world was on center stage, with the historic and coordinated efforts of President Obama, Nicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy of France, and Gordon BrownGordon Brown of the United Kingdom, who used the strongest language to date, toward Iran’s duplicitous government.

“The level of deception by the Iranian government, and the scale of what we believe is the breach of international commitments will shock and anger the entire international community,” Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain said. “The international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand.”

Former President Bill ClintonBill Clintonweighed in with his observation of the issue on an interview aired later on MSNBC. He believes that President Obama, in concert with other allies and top nations is handling the situation wisely and said that it might be a “healthy” thing that Iran’s secret broke and talks have been scheduled for October 1st.

“I think it’s a good thing to sit down and look someone in the face” said Clinton, “to talk about what could happen if they continue down that path.”

President Obama’s preferred method of action is diplomatic. “But if that doesn’t work, other methods with more bite will follow.”

Even Russia and China came out with strong statements against the secret enrichment facility, where both countries had been siding with Iran less than a week ago. Sources indicated Russia had been caught off guard by the news of Iran’s secret and felt burned by it.

Iran is now in a very difficult position, since its secret has been laid bare for the world to see and it has effectively alienated the fledgling relationship it had with Russia and China.

Recently, there have been violent protests over a fraudulent election that kept President Mahmoud Ahmadinegad in power. Ahmadinejad is a delusional man, who has adamantly maintained the holocaust never happened.

Now, Iran further thumbs its nose at the world by demonstrating its willingness for deception, with indignant claims that the manufacturing facility was done under “legal” guidelines.

According to a report in the New York Times: American officials had been tracking the covert project for a long time, but that President Obama decided to disclose the American findings after Iran discovered, in recent weeks, that Western intelligence agencies had breached the secrecy surrounding the complex. On Monday, Iran wrote a brief, cryptic letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying that it now had a “pilot plant” under construction, whose existence it had never before revealed.

As a result of Iran’s own arrogance, it has brought the collective voices of international disdain and condemnation down upon itself. But the question remains, what will this mean for the people of Iran, who are already living in one of the most oppressive societies on the planet?

Link to New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/26/world/middleeast/26nuke.html?nl=us&emc=politicsemailema1