I had a bizarre experience a couple of days ago, which I mentioned in a comment in another thread, but it’s still bothering me, because of the news this morning. I talked to an Iranian woman who was completely oblivious to the fact that the United States was about to attack Iran. She was in such denial.
Last night, Iran asked for two months to give its response to the latest offer. According to Forbes:
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Iran will respond in mid-August to the package of incentives on its nuclear program offered by the West, but President Bush accused Tehran of dragging its feet.
“We are studying the proposals. Hopefully, we will present our views about the package by mid-August,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd in western Iran in a speech broadcast live on state television.
This morning, I see that, predictably, Bush is the press this is not good enough:
Responding to a suggestion by Iran that it would respond to the major powers’ proposals by August 22, Bush said: “It should not take the Iranians that long to analyze what is a reasonable deal. I said weeks, not months.”
Bush was speaking at a news conference in Vienna after a summit with leaders of the European Union which, together with Russia and China, has backed Bush in his drive to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear arsenal.
What do other major nations think? Note how the article feels the need to make a distinction between “Western diplomats” and “Diplomats”:
Western diplomats have said Iran’s hesitation to respond may be a stalling maneuver aimed at buying time to expand its nuclear fuel enrichment program and make it a fait accompli.
Diplomats said the delay was more a sign of debate within a complex Iranian power structure over how to respond. Iran, which has the second largest oil and gas reserves, says its drive to enrich uranium is solely to provide electricity for its economy.
Me, I believe the Diplomats. I don’t think this is an unreasonable request.
What terrifies me about Bush’s behavior is the implication that he already has plans for war, plans which are set to move ahead before that date. And we all know how flexible Bush is…not.
So what do I say to these Iranians? I’ll see a group of them again, today. Do I take them printouts? Ask them to call their relatives and urge them to pressure from within Iran? Ask them to call their Congresspeople and Senators here in California and voice their displeasure?
And what about all the other people who are blithely going about their day, blissfully unaware that we’re about to open war on another front?
How do you get people to take action when they don’t think there’s a problem?
