U.S. Appeasement Continues

Washington, D.C., August 10, 2009--Secretary of State Clinton, in an interview on Sunday, indicated that the United States has no choice but to engage Iran in negotiations. 

“In the three decades since its Islamic revolution, Iran has dedicated itself to spreading its moral ideal--Islamic totalitarianism--by force of arms,” says Elan Journo, a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center. “Teheran spends millions every year, not to pursue prosperity for its tyrannized citizens, but to finance terrorism and to build a nuclear arsenal to wield against enemies of Allah.

“Would diplomatic negotiations encourage Iran to mitigate its ideology? No, they would only intensify its hostility. Negotiations buy Iran time. Above all, diplomacy grants Iran moral legitimacy as a civilized regime: its hostile goals--‘death to America’--and its murder of our citizens are made to seem reasonable differences of opinion. Such appeasement confirms the perverse notion that Allah’s warriors, materially weaker but morally self-righteous, can succeed in bringing down the mighty infidel West.

“To protect American lives, we must learn the life-or-death importance of passing objective moral judgment. We must recognize the character of Iran and act accordingly. By any rational standard, Iran should be condemned and its nuclear ambition thwarted, now.”

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Elan Journo is a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, focusing on foreign policy. He is the editor of and chief contributor to Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism. The Ayn Rand Center is a division of the Ayn Rand Institute and promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.

For more articles by Elan Journo, and his bio, click here.