Reply #9: I disagree [View All]

[Yotun]

The Iranian president may not have absolute power, but he does hold considerable both in internal economic matters and in foreign policy, and is directly elected from the people- in the past presidents who were not favoured by the Ayatollah were elected. The Ayatollah if you like is sort of like the judge of the supreme court- as in the US policy must follow the consitution, so in Iran policy must follow the constitutional Islamic nature of the republic (whether we consider that as right or not is irrelevant, it is their country), and the Ayatollah ensures that- however as in the US, the president has considerable policy power within that framework. This kind of argument looks to me as the kind of thing Republicans use who wish to paint everybody who doesn't like the US as undemocratic, despotic, tyrants who don't like the noble American principles of democracy.

If you'll negotiate with Iran, you'll talk with Ahmadinejad. McCain is right on that one.