Post-American Presidency by Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller Page B

undaunted. His conciliatory message on the thirtieth anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy was only one of many such messages.
    SLAPPING THE EXTENDED HAND

    Obama appeared anxious to sanction the evil of the Iranian mullahcracy.
    He had done all he could to demonstrate his goodwill to the Iranian mullahs, and to bring them to the negotiating table. He started in his Inaugural Address, offering to “extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” 12
    As is the lot of appeasers throughout history, all he received in return was disdain and renewed bellicosity. They knew a beggar when they saw one, and accorded him the respect they believed he merited. Virtually from the beginning of the Obama administration, the Iranian leadership reacted to his overtures with gleeful contempt.
    Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded just over a week after Obama took office that the United States “must apologize to the Iranian people and try to repair their past bad acts and the crimes they committed against Iran.” 13 Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham crowed days later that the new president’s request for talks “means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed.” 14 Not long after that, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, said that “in the past years, the U.S. has burned many bridges, but the new White House can rebuild them”—if, that is, it “accepts its mistakes and changes its policies.” 15
    Likewise when Obama set a deadline of the end of September for Iran to begin talks over its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad was again contemptuous—although those talks did ultimately take place. “From our point of view,” said the Iranian president, “Iran’s nuclear issue is over. We continue our work within the framework of global regulations and in close interaction with the International Atomic Energy Agency.… We will never negotiate over obvious rights of the Iranian nation.” 16 And when Iran’s nuclear representative sat down with the American negotiator, Ahmadinejad turned out to be entirely correct: the Iranians budged not one inch.
    Barack Obama didn’t ask them to.
    HAPPY NEW YEAR, MULLAHS

    Obama was undaunted. Late in March 2009, he stretched out his hand to Tehran again, issuing a videotaped greeting to “people and leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” on the occasion of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.
    He praised Iranian culture: “Over many centuries your art, your music, literature and innovation have made the world a better andmore beautiful place.” He praised Iranian immigrants: “Here in the United States our own communities have been enhanced by the contributions of Iranian Americans.” He praised Iranian civilization: “We know that you are a great civilization, and your accomplishments have earned the respect of the United States and the world.”
    Obama acknowledged that relations between Iran and the United States had been “strained.” But he stressed the “common humanity” of Iranians and Americans. To the mullahs and Ahmadinejad he declared: “My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.”
    The new president spoke glowingly of “a future with renewed exchanges among our people, and greater opportunities for partnership and commerce. It’s a future where the old divisions are overcome, where you and all of your neighbors and the wider world can live in greater security and greater peace.” 17
    But in response to these high-minded words, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was again scornful and threatening. He referred to the United States as “the arrogant ones, those who speak through violence, the [most] corrupt