Iran Reviews > Government by pantomime: how Bush decided to talk to Iran

BTC Newshttp://www.btcnews.com/btcnews [BTC News] That the president of the US, a country which maintained diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War, that brought China in from the cold, that even in its current incarnation acceded to participation in multilateral talks with North Korea, could regard the prospect of direct diplomacy with Iran as unusual to the point of intrigue is bizarre. And lest we forget, the Iranian regime snubbed by Bush in the early years of his reign, when he named the country as a charter member of the Axis of Evil, was a considerably more moderate one than holds power now, at least so far as the elected members of it are concerned, and the US policy toward that earlier regime helped usher in the current one.

Previous [Previous] 1936 all over again...

Next [Next] The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...

Some related posts from Technorati and Google.

http://www.politicalcortex.com [Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic] Print this story: Some officials, citing evidence from highly classified satellite feeds and electronic eavesdropping, believe the Iranian regime is playing host to much of Al Qaeda's remaining brain trust and allowing the senior operatives freedom to communicate and help plan the terrorist network's operations."

http://ninthstate.net [Ninth State] “Positive Steps”: If Iran accepts it outright along with a verification regime that ensures their compliance, it still gives us a trade-off that will put Iranian nuclear development off for enough time to hopefully see a more rational government replace the mullahcracy. Bush has positioned the US perfectly to either accept this diplomatic solution or to pursue tougher options with little difficulty.

http://journals.aol.com/bmiller224/OldHickorysWeblog [Old Hickory's Weblog] How close are the US and Europe on negotiating... : While international governmental pressure on Iran continues, there remains a significant split between the non-proliferation focus of Europe (willing to consider sanctions) and to a lesser degree Russia and China (preferring enticements), and the ideologically-driven "regime-change" approach of the U.S. (favoring regime change, including military attack). So far the Bush administration has failed to win broader support even for an anti-Iranian "coalition," let alone a unified Security Council resolution, but this White House has shown its willingness before to move recklessly and unilaterally despite global opposition. 

[Captain's Quarters] Did Iran Get What It Wants?: The Associated Press reports that Iran has described the Bush offer to end the nuclear-proliferation standoff as "positive", while reports indicating that the US has promised to give Teheran the technology to build a light-water reactor have some worried that we may have given away the prize. Ali Larijani, Iran's nuclear negotiator, changed weeks of contentious Iranian rhetoric by lauding the "positive steps" taken by the Americans, while noting that areas of ambiguity need clearer definition:

http://regimechangeiran.blogspot.com [Regimechangeiran.blogspot.com] A Daily Briefing on Iran: . Iran's reformers and student groups have spoken out in favor of freezing Iran's nuclear program, contrary to the myth that all Iranians support the program. We need to do what little we can to help them. The Bush administration has proposed $75 million for more Voice of America broadcasts and Internet programs in Persian, scholarships for Iranian students and support for human rights and civil society groups. Such modest measures hardly deserve the hysterical reaction of those who claim Bush's real goal is “regime change.” In fact, the Bush proposals are all building on earlier European initiatives in each of these areas.

http://hoder.com [Hoder.com] Editor: Myself | Hossein Derakhshan's weblog (English): In his iPod, covered by anti-Semite symbols and Bin Laden's pictures, our sources, who are not willing to be identified for they'd jeopardize the lives of pigs they were among while crossing Iran's eastern borders, have informed us he has the complete collection of Wagner works. One source has specifically talked about unheard tracks preformed by underground neo-Nazi bands from Westkreuz in Berlin.

Littlegreenfootballs.comhttp://www.littlegreenfootballs.com [Littlegreenfootballs.com] lgf: active anguish in a context of flux: The United States has to be aware that Iran will not agree to halt .She had followed instructions from the new Islamist regime, and arrived at the .

Reflected tags on Technorati: Blog, ,