Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr will be hosting a press conference entitled “Time to Talk with Iran” at 10:30 a.m., Eastern Time at the West Side Terrace of the House Cannon Office Building.
Bob Barr has recently made some foreign-policy statements that have been very encouraging from a libertarian perspective. He has called for removing U.S. soldiers from South Korea, ending the “occupation” (his word) of Iraq, and he’s been overtly dovish towards Iran. While John McCain, from whom Barr seeks to distinguish himself, sings “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb; Bomb, Bomb Iran” to the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann,” Barr is singing a different tune.
From his Glenn Beck interview:
Glenn Beck expressed a desire to “crush†Iran. Barr’s response was firm: “You’re not going to be able to crush Iran. Iran is a very large, very diverse, very economically sound country, in which there is — I believe, and I’ve lived over there — a solid basis to find an often lot of commonality of interests; not with Ahmadinejad, but with the people and a lot of the younger leaders over there.â€
Hopefully the campaign will post footage on of this on their website.
I attended a presentation the other day by an Iranian-born professor of foreign affairs. He laid out the current political landscape of Iran rather comprehensively given the 2 hours or so he had to speak. After hearing this presentation, and comparing to comments I have seen attributed to Barr, it sounds like Barr understands Iran better than either of two major candidates. Having lived in Tehran, he should.