16 July 2008

Talking To An Axis Of Evil

President Bush has decided to send the country's third-ranking diplomat to Switzerland this Saturday to participate in discussions with Iran concerning their nuclear enrichment programs. According to CNN:

Undersecretary of State William Burns will accompany a European Union delegation during a meeting with Saeed Jalili, Iran's top nuclear official . . . The move could dramatically alter the three-decade stand-off between the U.S. and Iran. Some western nations and Israel suspect Iran is intent on developing nuclear weapons and want Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran says it wants to develop nuclear power to produce electricity.
What is up with Dubya decision to participate? Has he decided that this particular axis of evil is really only an axis of sorta bad? Will we soon see pics of Ahmadinejad bareback riding in Crawford? I don't think this is anything that dramatic. Nor do I think this is a complete reversal of administration policy. According to State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack, U.S. participation in this event simply signifies our unanimity with the United Nations in wanting Iran to suspend their nuclear program. OK, so I have a problem with signifying unanimity with the UN, but I can't condemn the trips as it stands. According to the White House, they continue to hold firm that they will not meet directly with the Iranians until Iran takes certain steps.
"Iran needs to suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing related activities. Should they take that single step, the United States and its partners in the P5+1 will meet with the Iranian delegation any time, any place, anywhere to talk about a variety ... of subjects, but certainly our focus will be on the Iranian nuclear program."
So I personally don't have a problem with this particular trip. However, as long as Iran is identified as a terrorist state seeking to enrich uranium, let's not invite them to a Reykyavik picnic.

7 comments :

  1. Nikki said...

    I don't know what to think about this. I suppose its a plus that the Prez himself is not appeasing the evil axis...or maybe he is trying to undermine Obama...now that I like and can live with....:)N

  2. DB said...

    I love this. Bush has been doing a good job recently on "negotiating" with terrorists which seems to actually be making the world safer. Case in point, North Korea. Or even Libya. Of course since it is Bush and he is a Republican, we cannot call this negotiating. But either way, Bush and his administration is taking the right steps to make the world safe even if it is against conservative conventional wisdom. War isn't the only way to fight back. Bush is showing that.

  3. Khaki Elephant said...

    I agree that war is not the only way . . . but how often has a soft line curb evil despots? It's a tough call.

  4. DB said...

    I think the "soft line" Bush is using is doing a great job curbing rogue nations. Granted the left only sees his wars, but Bush has played the negotiation card a lot more than most liberals would like to admit. Negotiating with rogue foreign leaders isn't a waste of time and can be effective if done correctly (like the two countries I named), whereas negotiating with rogue terrorist cells who have no nation but are bound by ideals is pretty much pointless. Though the sad part of negotiating keeps the government in power, but at least the US is safer. It just depends which line we have to take for each situation. If Bush was smart, he would start to emphasize his achievements through diplomatic means to continue to justify the war in Iraq.

  5. GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD said...

    Hold up y'all. Burns is NOT there to negotiate. He was present in the romm with everybody else when Mottaki and CO read their answer to the latest series of enticements UN proffered. Opening up an Interest section in Tehran could mean anything.

    Putting the regime at ease before it's killed, staging spies and covert op stuff or a real attempt to give the mullahs one last chance to straighten up.

  6. Khaki Elephant said...

    Ah, and how will all of this play at home?

  7. Rick Frea said...

    Is this politics as usual? Is this an attempt to find common ground by the president? Is this a sign of progress in Iran?

    We must realize that if Iran did not fear the U.S., if Lybia did not fear the U.S., they will not respect us. That is why we need to carry a big stick, while at the same time be a great at diplomacy.