"Is the U.S. Stumbling Around the World?"                                                                                                                               

Questions and Answers are cited below as "Q" and "A"

1. Q: Why do we elect this title?

A: Because it says succinctly the problem of our "awful foreign policy."

2. Q: Is it important to describe this "stumbling"?

A: Yes. As stated by The New York Times Op-Ed columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof (/14/07):

We are faced ". . . with Iraq sliding off a cliff, and now tugging another 20,000 young Americans along as well, its worth wrestling with a larger question: Why are we so awful at foreign policy?"

3. Q: Is there a remedy?

A: Kristof quotes Shirin Ebadi (the Iranian lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Price): "It amazes me that the U.S., with all its scientific accomplishments, is so shortsighted in its foreign policy."

4. Q: Why do we act so often against our own long-term interests?

A: Kristof cites two reasons:

1. "Great powers always lumber about, stepping on toes, provoking resentments, and solving problems militarily simply because they have that capacity."
2. Particular to the U.S., we don't understand the world. The U.S. may owe its existence to pricky nationalist troublemakers like Sam Adams, but (particularly because relatively few Americans have lived abroad) we are obtuse about the appeal of prickly nationalists troublemakers elsewhere. Like George III, we empower our enemies."

[Kristof's January 14, 2007 Op-Ed from The New York Times attached.]

Future U.S. Foreign Policy in Iran should:
A: Continue to focus on regime change? Or B: Create diplomatic dialogue with Tehran to resolve some of the differences between the two governments?

"There are many unsavory regimes in the worldñbut sometimes you have to talk with them. Military force is an important tool in international affairsñ but only as the last resort." ("Listen to the Foxes, Not the Hedgehogs, on Iraq," L.Hadar)

Iran's Nuclear Facility near Natanz, Iran

"Iran wins" is tantamount to the winner being the headline denier of the actuality of the state of Israel and world-wide use of anti-Semitism including denier of the Holocaust.

"Iran, home to 70 million people, is emerging as the dominant power in the region. The U.S. accuses Iran of supporting anti-U.S. attacks in Iraq. Tehran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons may lead to military confrontations." (Time Magazine, FEBRUARY 12, 2007).

Dangers of Nuclear-Armed Iran

→ Possible Pre-emptive strike by Israel,

→ Threat to the international non-proliferation regime in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and

→ Danger that a nuclear Iran would feel safe to ramp up attempts to spread its revolution violently beyond its own borders.

"Even if it became clear that Iran was on the threshold of acquiring an atomic bomb, an American strike on its nuclear facilities would be a reckless gamble. Without America invading and occupying Iranñunthinkable after Iraqñsuch a strike would at best delay rather than end Iran's nuclear ambitions." (The Economist, February 10, 2007)

* * *

cc: George W. Bush, President

George H.W. Bush, Former President

Richard Cheney, Vice President

John Kerry, Senator

Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State

Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense

Colonel Oliver North

Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security

Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General

Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain

Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary

Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel

His Excellency Daniel Ayalon Ambassador of Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu, Economy Minister for the Israeli Government

Israel's "Women In Green"

National Unity Coalition for Israel

Arianna Huffington, Syndicated Columnist

Yohanan Ramati, Chairman, Jerusalem Institute for Western Defense

Gerardo Joffe, FLAME (Facts & Logic About the Middle East)

Mortimer Zuckerman, Editor in Chief - US News and World Report

Time Magazine

Washington Post - Attn: Bob Woodward

International Jerusalem Post

The Weekly Standard - Bill Kristol, Editor

The Wall Street Journal - Editorial and Op-Ed Department

The New York Times, Op-Ed Department

Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed Department

Dr. and Mrs. Jordan Phillips, Medical Books for China International