On Iran's nuclear program, Obama should take a cue from JFK and 'go first'

Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy delivered a commencement address at American University whose message echoes down the decades to the challenges America faces today – including the challenge of Iran.

Only months after the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the edge of nuclear war, Kennedy chose to speak of peace. This, as he faced a nuclear-armed Soviet Union that had a hateful ideology and was seemingly bent on world domination. The American president challenged those who saw peace as “impossible” or “unreal,” calling this “a dangerous, defeatist belief.” He spoke of a “practical” peace, based “on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements that are in the interest of all concerned.”

Strikingly, while upholding American values, he recognized that the United States, too, bore some responsibility for the cold war, and urged Americans “not to fall into the same trap as the Soviets, not to see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side.” He argued that “even the most hostile nations can be relied upon to accept and keep” treaty obligations that serve their own interests.

Today, as the US faces an Iran whose government is also driven by an ideology alien to American values, seemingly bent on exporting that ideology and threatening Israel, Kennedy’s words carry a deep resonance. Can the US find a practical peace with Iran that verifiably keeps its still-expanding nuclear program from building nuclear weapons? Or are we doomed to a terrible choice between military strikes and acquiescing to Iran building a nuclear arsenal?

Kennedy recognized that deep mutual distrust was the key obstacle to progress, leading each side to reject every proposal from the other as a propaganda trick. One of the most profound insights in his 1963 commencement speech came in response to those who argued – as many do today of Iran – that talk of negotiations was “useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude." Kennedy added: "I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it.”  To that end, Kennedy went from words to action – announcing that the US would stop atmospheric nuclear testing as long as others did, would send negotiators to Moscow to seek a nuclear-test ban, and would seek to open a direct communication line between Washington and Moscow.

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