Thomas Friedman on Charlie Rose: Iranians are survivors
In a discussion with with Charlie Rose on PBS about the Iranian peace with Iran, Tom Friedman, the renowned foreign policy columnist for The New York Times calls the nuclear agreement one of the best alternatives US had in dealing with Iran, and credits Obama and Kerry for having strong convictions to go through with this historic moment (Full video embedded below).
Friedman who is Jewish himself and spent part of his youth in Israel acknowledges Israel's fear after all Ahmadinejad's threats but also criticizes Netanyahu's snubbing of Obama in speaking directly to the US Congress. Friedman states that Iranians are not all black and others in the region are not all white: "Our view of the Middle East is deeply colored by Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and they all have their own interest. 15 of the 19 hijackers on 911 were from Saudi Arabia, none from Iran! Iranians had a spontaneous demonstration to support Americans on 911." He concludes US interest in the Middle East is not necessarily always aligned with Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey. One side is not all black and the other not all white.
"What strikes you most about Iran (vs. Saudi Arabia) is that Iran has real politics... A country of 85 million people, a great civilizations, many educated men and women, if they want to get a bomb WILL get it. They have demonstrated they could do it under the most severe sanctions... Show me where Iranians have acted reckless [like Saddam Hussein]. These are survivors."
Friedman believes peace in the Middle East is only possible when minorities (i.e., Sunnis in Iraq, Shias in Syria, Palestinians, Kurds, Shias in Bahrain, etc.) are strongly represented in the governments and power sharing.
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