There Are Only Two Things The Arab World Recognizes

Strength or weakness. If something isn't strong, it's weak. There are no shades in between.

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

"Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.

After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".

In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

Yes, I know that technically Iranians are not Arabs, but the mindset is the same.

During the 1990's the Arab world detected weakness in the leadership of the United States. That's what prompted multiple attacks during the Clinton years (the first World Trade Center bombing, the two African embassies, the Khobar Towers bombing, and the USS Cole). When George Bush took office in 2001 the Arab world was still under the impression that America was weak. They hit us on 9/11 harder than we had ever been hit, but to their surprise the U.S. came out with all guns blazing.

President Bush was often criticized by the left because he was so "black and white". His "either you're with us or you're with the terrorists" speech terrorized the lefties as much as it did our enemies. However, after freeing 50 million people in two countries there was no doubt that he was a strong leader and one not to be messed with. That's why they were never able to hit us again on American soil through the end of the Bush presidency.

Now we have a new president, one who chose as his first interview to go on Arab TV and talk about how he's willing to sit down with Iran and how America has too often dictated terms to the rest of the world. What does the Arab world hear when they hear statements like that? Weakness.

There are no shades of gray in their world, which is why the Bush approach was so effect. They don't respond to nuance, diplomatic doublespeak or "positive energy". They respond to force or the threat of same. They detect weakness in this new president and Ahmadinejad will do what he can to exploit it. He'll keep pushing, confident that Obama won't push back.

You cannot negotiate with a 7th century ideology using 21st Century nuance. Unfortunately, that lesson probably will not be learned by Obama until there are a number of dead Americans.