Seld-defeating US foreign policy

[James A. Donald]

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On 21 Oct 2004 at 18:33, Will Morton wrote:
> The US missed a real trick when Khatami got into power in 
> 1997; he had a huge swell of popular support behind him, and 
> with significant US backing he could probably have 
> outmaneuvered the conservatives and made some real changes. 
> A truly democratic Persian state would be a huge boost to 
> stability in the Middle East

How could the US have given him support, short of violent 
means, such as bombing Tehran, which he was reluctant to
accept?

> Instead, we had the 'axis of evil' hogwash, and lo: the 
> conservatives marginalise Khatami, and we're back to abayas, 
> beards and jihad.

You have this back to front.  Khatami was marginalized by the 
mullahs, and BECAUSE he was marginalized, because democracy in 
Iran was suppressed, the US government THEN included Iran in
the axis of evil. 

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         James A. Donald
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