<p>Yes FountainS, the dialogue in this thread indicates a decided lack of knowledge about Khatami and recent Iranian politics. One of the reasons the US issued Khatami a visa (Yes, we did agree to his visit!!) is that Khatami is a voice of Iranian moderation. We need to hear and give public fora to the few Iranian moderates of stature.</p>
<p>Romney’s posturing is all about his desire to look tough as he plans to run for Pres. It is a political position, not a principled position.</p>
<p>My farsi speaking friends and arabic speaking friends have told me that what is said for the benefit of the international media and world opinion and what is said by the same people in their native language in the mosques are generally the exact opposite.</p>
<p>Exactly, ejr. But I guess your friends suffer from a “decided lack of knowledge about Khatami and recent Iranian politics.”</p>
<p>Re: Romney — His position fits with the principles he has championed throughout his careeer. He objects to Harvard welcoming a terrorist, particularly on the 9/11 fifth year anniversary. So you think he should keep his opinions to himself until after the primary so as not to appear “political?” Nonsense.</p>
<p>Stickershock: Why “Particularly on the eve of 9/11” considering that Iran was not responsible for the bombing of WTC and that Khatami expressed sympathy for victims at the time–one of the first among Muslim leaders to do so?</p>
<p>Khatami has supported Islamic terrorists. Every statement in Romney’s press release is true. As ejr states, the messages that savy leaders release to an eager Western press, full of sympathy and concern, are in stark contrast to the messages they deliver to their rabid constituents. You can argue about which Islamic state had more hands-on involvement in the many terrorist attacks the West has endured. But the message that infidels must be killed or converted & Jews are apes and pigs is a common theme throughout the Middle East. 9/11 was a tragic wake-up call. Attacks have been successfully planned and executed for decades by a variety of Islamic terrorist groups. So I strongly object when a supporter of terror is welcomed by a premier US University.</p>
<p>Stickershock:</p>
<p>As I’ve said in an earlier post, we need to deal with the cards we have available, not the ones we wish we had. In the context of Iranian politics, Khatami is far preferrable to Muhamadinejad.</p>
<p>I thought of linking an article I read yesterday quoting a State Dept. spokesman as saying that State was going to foot the bill for protecting Khatami because “it’s the smart and prudent thing to do.” I should have done so; I can’t locate it today.</p>
<p>I don’t think the head of the U.S. Air Force should be allowed to speak at Harvard either - after all, former Air Force folks taught the terrorists to fly.</p>
<p>Harvard would never invite him.</p>
<p>My thought is – keep your friends close, your enemies closer.</p>
<p>Yes, marite. We must deal with & trade with some very unsavory characters in the complex world we live in. But we don’t have to roll out the red carpet and bestow such an honor on a terrorist supporter and anti-semite. </p>
<p>In the grand scheme of international relations, we have no friends, only “interests.” “Trust, but verify” holds true for even our closest allies. Even Israel was caught spying on us not long ago. But speaking at Harvard is a huge PR coup for Khatami, and we are patsies for allowing it.</p>
<p>I agree it’s a coup for Khatami–and one most likely arranged by the State Dept because it sees him as more moderate than Muhamadinejad. I strongly suspect that the State Dept, for all its official distancing, actually invited Khatami to visit the US, and not for purposes of sight-seeing. Harvard only invited him to speak after it learned that visas had been issued for him and his party. And how did Harvard learn of that?<br>
So he is being provided, courtesy of the State Dept, with unofficial platforms to make moderate noises. And so far, judging from what has been reported in the press, that’s exactly what he has been doing. Now we’ll have to see how that plays back in Iran. FS is right that he did not and does not wield much power there; but the US does not have a lot of choice. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Dick Cheney is coming to do a closed-door fund-raising at the Harvard Club tonight and the Lieutenant-Governor is doing all she can to distance herself from him. Hmmm… She and Romney make quite a pair.</p>