President Obama: Don't Be Afraid to Negotiate

President Obama commits to pursuing real, direct and sustained diplomacy with Iran, without preconditions, on the campaign trail. Many, many times -- so many times you'd think he wouldn't need reminding. Share this video with Twitter Share

During the Presidential campaign, Senator Obama repeatedly quoted President Kennedy: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."

But now the Obama Administration appears to be missing a key opportunity to deescalate conflict with Iran through negotiation. This week, Iran agreed to send 2,640 pounds of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey within a month as part of a confidence building measure negotiated by Turkey and Brazil. Ivan Oelrich, vice president of the Strategic Security Program at the Federation of American Scientists, says the technical difference between the deal Iran just agreed to and the deal the Obama administration proposed in October is small and that Iran is offering a key opportunity for engagement. [2]

But, as author Stephen Kinzer notes, the U.S. seems to be "reflexively dismissing" the deal, appearing to be "unreasonable and petulant."

Help us remind President Obama of his campaign pledge to "negotiate with our enemies" by signing our petition below.

During the Presidential campaign, you often quoted President Kennedy: 'Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.' But now your Administration appears to be refusing to negotiate with Iran, even though Iran has agreed to a nuclear fuel swap deal that experts say is similar to the one your Administration proposed just a few months ago. Please follow through on your promise to negotiate with Iran without preconditions.
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    • 1-25 of 2397 signatures
    Number Date Name Location Any additional comments?
    2397 Mon Aug 30 21:03:00 EDT 2010 Eddie Floyd II MI
    2396 Mon Aug 30 18:49:49 EDT 2010 Patrick Jay CO
    2395 Mon Aug 30 00:37:51 EDT 2010 Lynne Banta CA
    2394 Sun Aug 29 07:54:18 EDT 2010 Judi Poulson MN
    2393 Sat Aug 28 22:09:29 EDT 2010 David Johnston PA Please make Peace a real priority Mr. President. Sanctions killed over 500,000 children under the age of 5 in Iraq during the 1990's. They had little or no effect on those in power like Saddam Hassein. More....
    2392 Thu Aug 26 19:11:34 EDT 2010 Beverly Rodriguez TX
    2391 Thu Aug 26 13:47:59 EDT 2010 Lynne Banta CA
    2390 Wed Aug 25 23:44:02 EDT 2010 DAVID YENNIOR NJ
    2389 Mon Aug 23 13:24:28 EDT 2010 Eric Hefel VT Screw Israeal .... they want a war in the region ... let them do it alone
    2388 Mon Aug 23 09:12:05 EDT 2010 Rohan Dowe FL
    2387 Mon Aug 23 04:47:29 EDT 2010 Wendi Spence IL Disappointing...the fall of the empire is here. We thought Mr. Obama might really mean it when he said he wanted change and he would work for that change. Where is it?
    2386 Sun Aug 22 19:07:45 EDT 2010 Thierry Kim ot Mr.Obama, President of The United States,
    I did not vote for you for the same reason that I am writting to you now.Not even the near 2Billion dollars reportedly mis-spent on your election marketing More....
    2385 Sun Aug 22 12:24:07 EDT 2010 Brian Ranum SC
    2384 Thu Aug 19 21:10:09 EDT 2010 Charles Bandy CO
    2383 Thu Aug 19 21:10:09 EDT 2010 Charles Bandy CO
    2382 Wed Aug 18 19:21:03 EDT 2010 Anonymous CA
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