What is most effective?

There is abundant discussion or opining about what President Obama should or shouldn’t do, what he will or will not be able to do. At this point in time, prior to his inauguration, Obama, in my opinion, made many important positive moves. His appointments strike me as intelligent. How the mix works remains to be seen.

What is lacking in most of the discussion is our relationship with (not to) Iran. The neo-con’s, plus Bush and Cheney’s ham-fisted attempt at the democratization of Iraq has helped establish Iran as the dominant player in the Middle East. It is imperative that now the U.S. and Europe recognize this and handle it accordingly. To do that requires recognition of Iran’s interests. Focusing on the singular issue of a nuclear program and asserting that it poses dire consequences for the world is not productive nor in our best interest. Iran will use its resources to promote its perceived best interest as best it can. This is manifest in its support of proxies Hezhbolla and Hamas. While Iran’s influence grows our position weakens

The central crisis point in the Middle East is the Israeli / Palestinian struggle. Israel is currently attempting to stop rocket attacks by Hamas from Gaza. Obviously, Hamas cannot manufacture rockets. It gets them from Iranian sources. The borders are porous and it appears impossible to stop the flow of arms into Gaza, or Lebanon for that matter.

The point is that it is in now imperative that Iran be negotiated with if any progress is to be made. To do that high-level talks must be initiated with no preconditions or prejudicial statements or positions taken. Pure and simple open discussion has to be engaged in where Iran can put its grievances on the table. Perhaps I’m naïve to think that this can be achieved. Nonetheless my experience has been that allowing one’s opposite to state their case openly is the best way to establish what the problems are and what needs to be done to solve them.

To date blunt militaristic measures have proven to be not only ineffective they definitely exacerbate the problems. Six horrible years in Iraq are obvious examples of how not to function. Poor understanding of the situation leads to poor decisions. Our foreign policy decisions have been based on immoral motives for decades. That has been a fatal flaw. Communism is no longer the bogeyman. Today’s super capitalism is our greatest threat. Our government has become captive to the corporate overlords. Our legislators have become beholden to corporate largess via campaign contributions. Those contributions have actually been corporate investments that have paid off more handsomely than Madoff’s clients were misled to believe.










Our current economic crisis is a crisis of morality. Over several generations our countries moral fabric has been weakened by individual’s self interest at the expense of moral integrity. The very success that has lead to our general affluence has undermined the national character. The incessant pursuit of capital gain has lead to successive crises such as the Savings and Loan scandal, the dotcom bubble and the housing bubble that brought about the current cataclysmic financial meltdown. The much adulated financial guru, Alan Greenspan, presided over the latest fiasco and had to confess that he was surprised to learn that his expectation of enlightened self-interest would prevent the financial wunderkind from fouling their own nest.

Now amid the chaos and rubble of our, and much of the world’s, economic collapse we greet our new president. The corporate grip on our government may or may not have been weakened. Frankly I am afraid it would be dangerous for Obama to attempt too stringent a revision of current policies. Hopefully he will lessen the influence lobbyists have on writing the bills that are purportedly in the common interest. The pharmaceutical bill was written by lobbyists and included the prohibition of government discounts. It definitely should be amended removing that clause. Likewise people should be able to purchase foreign drugs; the FDA isn’t doing too good a job of checking domestic products.