Blogger mystified by Hitchens's belief that an Obama speech to the Iranian people will matter

The idea of direct and transparent negotiations with the Iranians is not wrong in principle, but it depends on which Iranians are the actual or potential partners. The president can address the Iranian people directly if he chooses, from the podium of the United Nations (as I urged Bush to do). He can tell them that just as the United States can and will help them to build civilian nuclear reactors, so it will not stand still and watch all Iran’s agreements with international bodies be flagrantly broken. He can tell them that the mullahs’ sponsorship of Hezbollah and Hamas is a reason for Iran’s continued isolation. He can add—as I’ve suggested before—that in its zeal for armaments, the theocracy has been culpably negligent in preparing Iran and its people for the likelihood of a serious earthquake in the next few years and that the United States stands ready to share its seismological expertise in the here and now.