Why Preisident Obama should not meet with Ahmadinejad

July 4, 10:06 PMPolitical Buzz ExaminerRyan Witt

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Political Buzz Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

President Ahmadinejad wants to meet with Obama.  AP Photo Sajjad Safari

News has broke that President Ahmadinehad of Iran wants to meet with President Obama to negotiate in public.  This comes after recent weeks in which Ahmadinejad came under international criticism and pressure for the Iranian government's crackdown of protest within its own country.  Many experts and commentators question whether Ahmadinejad even legitimately won Iran's most recent election.  Ahmadinejad states he wishes to have negotiations with President Obama in front of the international press and not behind closed doors.

While I have been a supporter of talking with countries like Iran in the past (if for no other reason than to communicate our disapproval of their actions) I must say that any meeting with Ahmadinejad at this point would not be a wise move.  The Obama administration should refuse a face-to-face meeting with Ahmadinejad under such circumstances for a couple of reasons.

First, the meeting would serve Iran's interests but not do anything for the United States.  In fact the meeting could be an embarrassment for the United States.  Simply by meeting with Ahmadinejad President Obama would be sending a signal that the U.S. recognizes his regime as the legitimate rulers of Iran.  In effect the meeting would give Ahmadinejad the legitimacy they are seeking after the questionable results from the last election in Iran.  In addition, since the meeting would be in public Ahmadinejad could say whatever he wanted spreading the Iranian propaganda for all the world to hear.  It is likely Ahmadinejad would at some point criticize the United States for "meddling" in the internal affairs of Iran among many other things.  President Obama could respond to these allegations but in the end the meeting would turn into a circus with no real progress made.

Secondly, a meeting with Ahmadinejad at this point would mean political disaster for President Obama at home.  President Obama already took on a fair amount of criticism for not being more vocal in his opposition to the Iranian crackdown sooner.  If President Obama now meets with Ahmadinejad right after the Iranian regime ruthlessly squashed democratic protest it would serve as perfect cannon fodder

Third, and probably most importantly, meeting with Ahmadinejad at this point would just be wrong.  His regime should not be rewarded for its recent actions against its own people.  The United States must send a signal that behavior like that of the Iranian regime will not go unpunished.  This does not mean we do not engage with Iran at all; lower level officials should still keep lines of communication open and seek ways to get Iran to agree to shut down its weapons programs.  However, ameeting with the President in front of international media should not be allowed.  Unless Iran is willing to make very significant concessions before the meeting President Obama should refuse the proposed meeting with Ahmadinejad.