Humble Foreign Policy

I am a supporter of Barack Obama, and I do not go out of my way to seek opportunities to be critical of his words or actions. I think he is a good man with good intentions, but sometimes his words just land in my head with something like an explosion that makes me wonder what kind of country I live in, whose leader can speak with such incredible arrogance.

In speaking today of the anniversary of the seizing of the embassy in Iran, and the taking hostage of the American staff of that embassy, President Obama included this statement,

"This event helped set the United States and Iran on a path of sustained suspicion, mistrust, and confrontation. I have made it clear that the United States of America wants to move beyond this past..."

He doesn’t mention, glosses right past the fact, that “this event” was one part of a revolution against tyrannical government resulting from the violent overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government by the United States and the installation of a dictatorial Shah put into office and maintained there by American support.

That is parallel to two neighbors feuding. I throw paint bombs on my neighbor’s house, and he responds by egging my car. I attempt to resolve to feud by saying that I will quit calling him names and will forgive him for egging my car, so let’s just move past all of this. We will just omit any mention of my paint bombing his house; that never happened.

So much for “a less arrogant foreign policy.”