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    The Envoy

    Obama: We asked Iran to give us our drone back

    President Obama has a message for Iran: He would like America's downed spy drone back.

    Obama revealed the request for the return of the drone--which fell to earth in Iran recently, and has since been flaunted in video footage by the Iranian government--during a Monday White House news conference. The president shared the podium with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as both leaders discussed the future of American-Iraqi relations after the withdrawal this month of the last remaining U.S. troops.

    But Obama's comments on the seized drone at least temporarily upstaged the designated subject of the conference--and are all but certain to become instant fodder for late-night comedy and GOP primary campaign barbs.

    "We've asked for it back," President Obama said of the spy plane, according to an Agence-France Press report. "We'll see how the Iranians respond."

    "With respect to the drone inside of Iran, I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters that are classified," he added.

    Iran released a video of downed U.S. stealth drone on December 8, 2011. (Yahoo News still …Iran claimed to have brought down the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone mostly intact eight days ago, after operators lost control of it on a classified CIA-Pentagon surveillance mission over the country. The very existence of the stealth reconnaissance plane-- dubbed the "Beast of Kandahar," and manufactured by Lockheed Martin--received no official acknowledgment from U.S. government circles until 2009. American officials more recently reportedly confirmed the RQ-170 was used for extended surveillance of Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after the successful U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida leader last May.

    Iran--which has since lodged a formal diplomatic protest over the drone's apparent violation of Iranian air space--has given scant indication that it will leap to the Obama administration's request for the craft's return.

    Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Brig. General Hossein Salami told Iran state television Sunday that Iran won't give the drone back, and regards "the drone's violation of Iranian airspace as a hostile act" by the United States, the Washington Post's Thomas Erdbrink reported.

    Already, partisan critics of the Obama White House could hardly contain their glee at news of the request. This was after all but the latest Western request that Tehran seemed likely to flout--along with several rounds of UN Security Council resolutions demanding Iran curb its nuclear program.

    "If you were Iran, and Pres O asked you to return our drone, what would you say??" Ari Fleischer, GOP public relations strategist and former spokesman for the George W. Bush White House, asked on Twitter.

    "'O: I asked Iran 2 return drone & we'll see how they r[e]spond," Fleischer wrote in another Twitter post mocking the request. Ronald Reagan "didn't ask Iran 2 r[e]turn hostages. Iran feared him, so they were freed."

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton--who herself has occasionally revealed private talking points publicly--tried to blunt any suggestion of naivete in the U.S. request.

    "We submitted a formal request for return" of the drone, but "don't expect them to comply," Clinton said Monday, CBS News' Cami McCormick reported.

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    Want more of our best national security stories? Visit The Envoy or connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

     

    12 comments

    • KendraB  •  4 mths ago
      Honestly-if it was another country in our airspace we would not be compliant and return it.Should have a self destruct on these drones.USA government screwed up.Now they offer a pink toy model to Obama.Sorry but it was amusing.And Im in no way disloyal to America but it was funny.
    • SaheedY  •  Sacramento, California  •  4 mths ago
      He's handling the situation with the utmost professionalism. After witnessing what happened to the most wanted man in a decade by the Obama administration, what do you simple minded people really believe is going to happen when he makes a proper "formal request," that he already anticipates the Iranian government to ignore? Dwell on that for a bit...
    • smokedsalmoned  •  4 mths ago
      Wrights Opinion On AIDS. Here are the quotes attributed to Barack Obamas friend and personal mentor on the Aids Epidemic in the United States. . “The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color" and "[the government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God #$%$ America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people...God #$%$ America for treating our citizens as less than human. God #$%$ America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme".. Lets just say that a mind molded by this conspiracy driven mentor would not be the one I want bringing CHANGE to Washington. Vote no to reverse racism, homophobia and vote no to Obama….again in 2012.Sworn To Uphold The Law?. Last year President Obama invited the Mexican President to the White House lawn to join him in criticizing American Citizens in Arizona for daring to attempt to pass a law to uphold and enforce our law on illegal immigration being illegal. This year he has had our Attorney General send out a letter to government employees telling them that the Defense Of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and they do not need to defed it. Since when does the President superced the Supreme Court when it comes to constitutionality?. Perhaps Attorney General Holder might want to remind our President that when he was sworn in as president he swore to uphold all of our laws. . Furthermore, his use of the Mexican President to wag his finger at US Citizens on the illegal immigration issue was shameful and disgusting. I was embarrassed for him and our country. Its like a sheriff asking a pot dealer to join him in a press conference to chastise people who are trying to enforce laws against illegal drugs. Given that despicable action, II shudder to think what he will use against his opposition when they rise up against his DOMA "dictate"..(If you are a business looking to invest in America and your President won’t even uphold basic laws, does off shoring your business begin to look more and more enticing?)
    • smokedsalmoned  •  4 mths ago
      Who Got Fannie Freddie Campaign $
      .
      Who were the top 5 recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions from 1998 to 2008? According to public records reported in the press, of the top 5 candidates, its as follows:
      .
      1.Christopher Dodd, Democrat, US Senator
      2. John Kerry, Democrat
      3. Barack Obama, Democrat
      4. Hillary Clinton, Democrat
      5. Paul E. Kanjorski, Democrat.
      .
      Of the top 25 politicians countrywide Mr. Obama's Presidential Opponent does not appear on the list. So who is really in the pocket of lobbyists? Who was Fannie and Freddie counting on to keep the regulators away as the mess was underway?
    • smokedsalmoned  •  4 mths ago
      Reverend Wright On 9/11
      .
      Here are the post 9/11 quotes attributed to Barack Hussein Obamas friend and personal mentor.
      “We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye.”
      .
      “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.” (Sep 2001)
      .
      “In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just ‘disappeared’ as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns.” (magazine article)
      .
      Note the dates above, and note that Obama kept going to listen to this man and calling him Mentor after this.
      .
      With mentors who believe we brought 9/11 upon ourselves and deserved it, I cringe at the thought of Obama winning the Presidency yet again.
    • smokedsalmoned  •  4 mths ago
      Who Lied On Healthcare Cost?
      .
      Columnist David Brooks pointed out in his March 10th 2010 column , prior to the vote for Health Care, that the Democrats stuffed the health legislation with gimmicks and dodges designed to get a good score from the Congressional Budget Office but that of course won't honestly control runaway spending. Here 's a recap of how they gamed the system, themselves, the taxpayers and the C.B.O.:
      .
      • There is the doc fix dodge. The legislation pretends that Congress is about to cut Medicare reimbursements 21 percent. Everyone knows that will never happen, so over the next decade actual spending will be $300 billion higher than paper projections.
      .
      • There is the long-term care dodge. The bill creates a $72 billion trust fund to pay for a new long-term care program. The sponsors count that money as cost-saving, even though it will eventually be paid back out when the program comes on line.
      .
      • There is the subsidy dodge. Workers making $60,000 and in the health exchanges would receive $4,500 more in subsidies in 2016 than workers making $60,000 and not in the exchanges. There is no way future Congresses will allow that disparity to persist. Soon, everybody will get the subsidy.
      .
      • There is the excise tax dodge. The primary cost-control mechanism and long-term revenue source for the program is the tax on high-cost plans. But Democrats aren't willing to levy this tax for eight years. The fiscal sustainability of the bill rests on the naive hope that a future Congress will accept a trillion-dollar tax when the current Congress wouldn't accept an increase of a few billion.
      .
      • There is the 10-6 dodge. One of the reasons the bill appears deficit-neutral in the first decade is that it begins collecting revenue right away but doesn't have to pay for most benefits until 2014. That's 10 years of revenues to pay for 6 years of benefits, something unlikely to happen again unless the country agrees to go without health care for four years every decade.
      .
      • There is the Social Security dodge. The bill uses $52 billion in higher Social Security taxes to pay for health care expansion. But if Social Security taxes pay for health care, what pays for Social Security?
      .
      • There is the pilot program dodge. Admirably, the bill includes pilot programs designed to help find ways to control costs. But it's not clear that the bill includes mechanisms to actually implement the results. This is what happened to undermine previous pilot program efforts.
      .
      Despite Obama touting its deficit neutrality, he an The Democrats knowingly built yet another unsustainable and likely unkillable program that will damage Americas fiscal and economic future . The fact that a recent government report indicates that under the now passed law Medicaid, Medicare costs will indeed rise by over 300 billion in the next decade is something every taxpayer should know it and be mad as hell about it.
      .
      FYI, if you increase State, employee and sole proprietor costs through massive tax and health care increases needed to fund this, businesses will have less to invest in R&D for competitiveness as well as less to offer in terms of jobs & salary. Obamacare is a job killer.
      .
      If you think this reform is awesome whey did congress exempt itself, several states, all fed employees and over 250 major corporations?
      .
      These Are The Real Reasons Health Care Needs To Be Fought, Resisted, Repealed, Defunded At Every Turn. It Is Another Unsustainable Ponzi Scheme Like SSI.
    • Cabal of shame  •  4 mths ago
      What a DUNCE!
    • Patrick Healy  •  5 mths ago
      Why should the Iranians do that. It was a military aircraft that was over their airspace. Illegal under international law in time of peace; a legitimate target in time of war.

      We hear a lot about how "likeable" obummer is. I personally do not share that view, but this is a chance for him to prove it! Be sure you ask the Iranians nice, mr. obummer
      • MARTY 5 mths ago
        Only one word comes to mind. Cajones. Or in this case a lack of them. I'd think we'd have had some "thing" onsite immediately to crater the find.
      • lind 5 mths ago
        share this pic
        http://www.irupload.ir/images/2062ambx90mul4ja2kuz.jpg
      • Patrick Healy 5 mths ago
        Marty......You're comment is "smack on" -- but remember who is at the helm?
        baraxo de bummer is a bad cross of calvin coolidge and neville chamberlain with a light tan. You ARE Right -- but with obummer in command -- it ain't gonna happen.

        We would better off with no president at all than this King of Wishful Thinking
    • MARTY  •  Mount Pleasant, United States  •  5 mths ago
      One would think that we would have self destruct circuitry in place so in a situation like this it would literally blow up in their hands. I can't believe this hasn't been thought of by people smarter than me. And long before now, especially if they knew the system could be compromised. Intelligence 101.
      • lind 5 mths ago
        share this pic
        http://www.irupload.ir/images/2062ambx90mul4ja2kuz.jpg
      • lind 5 mths ago
        share this pic
        http://www.irupload.ir/images/2062ambx90mul4ja2kuz.jpg
    • Davie Johnson  •  Washington, United States  •  5 mths ago
      I have seen ridiculous statements made by previous presidents, but asking the government of Iran to give us back our Drone was like some grade school maneuver. You do not ask a nation which has had a hand in killing and maiming our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan(with proven supply/training of roadside bombings) anything. You also don't merely survey them with drones-you attack them with great ferocity-and don't make the mistake of rebuilding them at US taxpayers cost.
      • Dakota Doc 4 mths ago
        Why are you being so stupid? Do you honestly think if it was the US that captured it's enemy military in an act of war would give it back? Get real you dummies!
    • lind  •  Tehran, Iran  •  5 mths ago
      share this pic
      http://www.irupload.ir/images/2062ambx90mul4ja2kuz.jpg
    • Mike  •  Pittsburgh, United States  •  5 mths ago
      What balls haha
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