I’m disappointed. I would think someone like Mr. Raymond Tanter – a person clearly involved in foreign relations for many years would have figured out by now that sanctions DO NOT work. They’ve never worked with Iran, even when they held American hostages. He should also know that a strong stance on the election issue in Iran will alienate more than just Iran, but its supporters too, namely Russia, North Korea, and China. Why is that important?

Obama and the rest of the world have a much bigger problem to deal with in Iran – nuclear proliferation. With all due respect to the people of Iran, election results are a distant concern. Nuclear war can be far more devastating to the world than the outcome of a single election. In order to address this concern, the USA needs all the help it can get. Russia (a major ally of Iran), North Korea, and China hold much more influence over Iran than the US or the West can ever have.

Thankfully, Mr. Tanter isn’t president. He can’t seem to understand what works and what doesn’t. He didn’t learn from his own history, let alone world history. He didn’t listen to Obama’s campaign (it was about CHANGE, meaning we are going to things differently than in the past). If Mr. Tanter had listened, he’d realize Mr. Obama is a different breed and certainly isn’t George Bush.

Thankfully, Mr. Obama understands fully that in this situation we can only express our disdain for the actions of Iranian government with regard to this issue. Our priority is to neutalize the nucelar threat Iran poses. Once that is neutralized, we can take stronger action. But in all cases the way to address this is through dialog, not dictation.