Can't we disinvite Iran to our Fourth of July parties?

Posted By Christian Brose Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 7:10 PM Share

By Christian Brose

This is clearly a bad idea:

The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.
President Barack Obama's administration said earlier this month it would invite Iran to US embassy barbecues for the national holiday for the first time since the two nations severed relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"There's no thought to rescinding the invitations to Iranian diplomats," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
"We have made a strategic decision to engage on a number of fronts with Iran," Kelly said. "We tried many years of isolation, and we're pursuing a different path now."

Really, State? Can't we celebrate America's birthday this year without members of a government that just a few days prior was killing its citizens in the streets?

H/T Spencer

EXPLORE:IRAN

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AKHENA7EN

8:19 PM ET

June 23, 2009

Are we running out of things

Are we running out of things to get indignant about? This seems like a stretch..

ZATHRAS

4:19 AM ET

June 24, 2009

The 4th

President Obama, in what is becoming an unsettling pattern, sent his campaign manager on television to address this and other Iran issues. Even Bush never used Karl Rove for that purpose. I understand Axelrod is keeper of the sacred image, but now that Obama is actually President he needs to place more trust in his foreign policy team. If they're smart enough to make foreign policy, they're smart enough to explain it on camera. They might even be smart enough to understand that tap-dancing for five minutes in an obvious effort to having to answer an innocuous question with a simple yes or no is not the best service one can render a new President.

If Axelrod or the unfortunate Gibbs were really on the ball, either one might have explained that the Fourth of July festivities offered a rare opportunity for Iranian diplomats to unwind at the local American embassy with their handlers.

Shadow Government is a blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration, written by experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition and curated by Peter D. Feaver and William Inboden.