Revisiting Ahmadineja’s ‘Gift’
Between ‘schoolboy diplomacy’ and ‘cowboy diplomacy’
TOPE ORIOLA STAFF
Call him a media manipulator, publicity seeker, terror of the West or hard-headed, intransigent torn in the flesh; there is no denying the method in Mahmud Ahmadineja’s madness. Iranian president, Ahmadineja gave a surprising Easter and Prophet Mohammed’s birthday “gift” to Britain on April 4, 2007; it was no April fool stunt. Just as stupefying as their capture by Iranian troops, the 15 British sailors and marines captured by Iranian forces received “amnesty” in no less a surprising manner after 13 days in a well-orchestrated incarceration. Will somebody be reasonable enough to enter into direct negotiations with Iran now?
Like him or hate him, Ahmadineja is proving to be more cunning than we give him credit for. With the release of the 15 British personnel and his sarcastic request that the freed captives not be prosecuted by Britain for allegedly entering Iranian waters, Ahmadineja has raised the diplomatic stakes and has indicated his idiosyncratic willingness to engage those of us who are distrustful of his nuclear ambitions. While I absolutely detest Ahmadineja’s antics such as blind-folding, subjecting to psychological pressure and parading those hapless Britons on world-wide television and extracting “confessions” from them, there is no doubting the fact that muscle-flexing on the part of Britain would have been futile in securing the release of the captured sailors and marines.
Have you pondered on what would have happened if those captured sailors and marines were Americans? Would the world not be thrown into another harvest of tears and blood? I wish this was a tactful government; Americans would not have so easily squandered the good-will and immense compassion, empathy and sympathy around the world generated by the monumental tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. A more diplomatic government would have made gains rather than starting phony oil-induced wars. But that begs my point.
Tony Blair succeeded where Bush would have blatantly failed. Rather than talking tough and issuing threats, Blair was measured in his choice of words and tone. In the heat of the crisis, when opposition parties were expectedly hoping to reap political dividends from the imbroglio, Blair described Iran as a nation with a proud heritage and exuded confidence that Iran would do the right thing. Blair resisted the temptations of prodding by the media that as we know revel in incidents such as that.
Blair’s “dual track” strategy as reported by the BBC involved opening talks with Iran and mobilizing international support. A parent of one of the freed captives was quoted as describing Blair’s approach as “schoolboy diplomacy.” Maybe that parent wished George Bush (Jr.) were prime minister; there would be a lot of press conferences with hot words, but their son would not be home now. Blair may have blindly followed Bush into Iraq, but as far back as 2006, Blair had stated that the use of force against Iran was “not on our agenda.” Perhaps we are heading back to the good old days of mutual respect and cordiality among nation-states.
In a similar vein, House speaker Nancy Pelosi has headed to Syria to meet with Syrian authorities at the highest level. Unsurprisingly, the White House condemned the move as “a really bad idea.” The BBC reports Pelosi’s January visits to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel among others. When people have a disagreement, they ought to sit down to discuss and not trade words in the media. Consequently, Pelosi’s diplomatic overtures to Syria is a welcome development unless we wish to continue to provide easy money for defense contractors and feed the military industrial complex at the expense of meeting the genuine needs of the people.
More than ever before, leaders of all G8 countries need to take the gauntlet and engage Iran, Syria and North Korea in series of dialogues on issues bordering on global peace, terrorism and security. Refusing to discuss with these nations does no one no good. The sanctions on Iran have proven to be ineffective; it is foolhardy to “stay the course” without a new direction.
Now that Iran has released the British hostages in good health and sharp suits, I hope this opens a vista of opportunities for the resolution of the crises in the Middle East in general and that it is indicative of the fact that the U.K. has found its voice and has learnt to handle issues in time-tested diplomatic ways. Let us save the cowboy approach for the ranch.
Tope Oriola is comment editor of the Manitoban and a graduate student in sociology.
