[glorgau]

He didn't blink, he tossed the ball in Euros court. They have shown their effectiveness and are now beginning to re-learn their place.

[Publius]

For a while it appeared that Iran was next on our dance card. However, North Korea and Venezuela have barged to the head of the line and demanded our attention.

We'll dance with Iran next year.

[jveritas]

He did not blink, he is just playing chess with the Iranians but the stupid people cannot tell this. Iran will not have nuclear weapons under the Presidency of George W Bush, period.

[massadvj]

This is premature on Perle's part. At the end of the day, if Iran's weapons are to be taken out, it would be best to have the support of the entire NATO alliance, even the French. That will be likely if Bush is seen to have done everything diplomatically possible to solve the problem.

Iran's nukes are a greater threat to Europe than to the US. Letting the Europeans take the lead and ultimately conclude that this is more than just a ploy by the Iranians to strongarm the west into concessions is an important step in the runup to war.

Personally, I have more confidence in Condi Rice than Richard Perle.

[The Westerner]

Perle is entirely right. I read this with great interest because he was in the know. Rice was never as strong a player as people on FR seemed to think. She smiled and giggled when interviewed about the E-3 incident. She has nothing to contribute to world peace except the same stale ideology of appeasement. Bush will be remembered in history as one of the worst Presidents..because he did not stand up to the true source of terror in this world: Iran, when he had all the resources and all the moral fervor of his countrymen to do so after 9-11. And it looks like he never will and the MidEast is headed toward a conflagration.

[Minuteman23]

The State Department and its European counterparts know what they want: negotiations.

The rest of this article, though good, is redundant.

It's time to get some new blood in the state department. Too many entrenched ideologues too used to "dialogue" and compromise with the enemy.

[WLR]

I suspect after consultations with Israeli intelligence we know Iran's actual status.

We know we can wait and roughly for how long before the Israelis feel they must act. That waiting does as someone else said puts others in the mix. Further it gives us time to work on current projects and prepare should we have to take action.

Just smart.

W

[BJungNan]

Why did Bush blink on Iran?

If you are going to have the likes of Murtha, Kerry, etc working against you, making any effort on Iran impossible to carry through on, then you have to go for another option.

Look at Iraq. The Dems have hurt our effort there tremendously.

[Hugin]

I was extremely disapointed a few months back when during a press conference Bush was asked point blank will America ever allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. It was such a high hanging fastball of a question, one which clearly should have been answered with a one word, "No". Instead he went off with the usual diplomatic garbage about pursuing negotiations with the EU countries, going to the UN security council, we're on the right course, blah, blah. If you were Khameni or Ahmednutjob would you be worried by that answer?

[John Lenin]

Condi is a big lib in case no one has noticed.

[BluH2o]

This crap coming from the Washington Post, the same paper, along with the NY Times that has condemned virtually everything we've (Bush) has done in Iraq and to a lesser extent Afghanistan? Now their whining about dropping the ball where Iran is concerned ... as in proposing, it seems,
we invade them ... in fact, should have taken out Iran instead of Iraq ... Iran being more perilous? Give me a f'ing break.