.....well, it never took much to do either.
Posted on 07/19/2008 5:52:49 PM PDT by Lorianne
The Bush administration's decision to send a top U.S. diplomat, William Burns, to meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator at a European Union-led meeting in Switzerland is a victory for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The White House insists the move does not signify a change in policy toward Tehran. Washington has vowed it will not negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program until it temporarily suspends uranium enrichment. The White House claims the meeting is "a one-time U.S. participation," and that Mr. Burns - the State Department's third-highest ranking diplomat - will only "listen, not negotiate." This is irrelevant.
The Burns mission gives Mr. Ahmadinejad the one thing he needs: time. Placing U.S. policy on a diplomatic track allows Mr. Ahmadinejad to prolong the negotiating process. This enables Tehran to obfuscate, deceive and confuse the international community. Iran is not interested in genuine talks; rather, it is using the guise of diplomacy - just as Adolf Hitler did to rearm Germany during the 1930s - to build a nuclear arsenal.
Mr. Ahmadinejad claims Iran craves nuclear energy for civilian purposes only. This is a lie. Tehran possesses the world's second largest natural-gas reserves and the fifth largest crude-oil reserves. It has no need for domestic nuclear power.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Unless he tells him to fface his doom.
Nonsense. It is called “playing the game”. If the guy is going to write for a metro DC newspaper, he should at least know the rules of the game. This is little more than TV drama.
As long as it pisses off and confuses the MSM and the left, I’m all for it.
I thought the guy’s name was Nicholas Burns.
He had an epiphany.
Wonder what he has planned for the Ortegas.
Poor example. We have plenty of oil and gas to serve our own needs, and yet we still need nuclear power - for entirely different reasons, of course.
Apparently, from another article posted, the US representative gave Iran a 2 week deadline.
Does this line sound like someone trying to garner favor for a DC newspaper? GWB has had seven years to confront Russia and Iran over Iran's nuclear program, he hasn't done anything of substance yet.
I have a feeling that the Iranians do not realize that they are creeping up onto their last chance.
Iran with nukes to wipe Israel OFF the map? Our diplomacy is going to say something about that. Strategic military response by the USA is not something anyone has scene for a very long time, since WWII.Its all been just local and hot and conventional.
One strategic twitch of Dubyah's left nut, and Tehran disappears.The Iranians need a reminder.
The Bush administration understands that they are giving Iran a small victory in this matter. Most likely, they have done it as part of a bargain of some kind. I have no idea what the administration got in exchange but if it was something involving Iraqi security it would not surprise me.
A year and a half ago Bush held his first press conference in several months. One of the reporters threw him what should have been a high hanging curve ball, “Will you allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons”? It was a perfect set up for the easiest, most effective answer; “No”, then move on to the next reporter.
Instead he went on and on about being on the right track, Condi Rice working with the European allies, going to the UN, etc. He may as well have said, “Gee, there’s not much we are willing to do about it, so I hope they change their minds. Otherwise I’ll leave it for the next president.”
What if he really did it? What if the war was, as some are starting to suggest, really over. What a way to take the wind out of Obama’s sails.
SECRETARY RICE: Yes. And here’s the situation. First of all, this decision, this tactical decision to send Bill Burns one time to receive the reply that the Iranians are supposed to give to the offer that the United States, Russia, China, and three European states made – he’s going to go receive the reply, and he’s going to tell the Iranians, in no uncertain terms, that if they want to negotiate, the condition for doing that is to suspend verifiably their enrichment and reprocessing. So this is really to reinforce the policy that we’ve set up. It’s to reinforce our unity with the other five countries that are doing this. And its, frankly, to say to the Iranian people, “Your government has a way out of this, and instead, they continue isolating themselves and isolating you.”
QUESTION: So this is a very, very specific, one-time meeting. This is not a negotiation. Would that be fair?
SECRETARY RICE: This is not a negotiation. We sent the letter to the Iranians with an offer. They’re coming back to give the response. Bill will listen to the response. He will explain to them the conditions under which the United States will negotiate, which have not changed. And in doing so, we believe we reinforce our policy and we reinforce our allies.
QUESTION: Yeah, well, you know, it’s being played up in the media as a shift in position. Does that bother you or frustrate you?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, what’s frustrating about that is that if people were – if people are just listening, they will hear very clearly that we are not going to negotiate on this – negotiate with the Iranians until they suspend their enrichment and reprocessing. That has been the bottom line always. And there’s a sense somehow that because we’re making this tactical decision that we’re changing policy. But our policy is as firm as ever. We think, if anything, this is an opportunity to reinforce it with the Iranians.
Sean Hannity in an interview with Condi Rice. I think on Friday Radio broadcast.
I stand corrected. Thank you!
I didn't post you the Hannity/ Rice interview transcript (excerpt) because of the name. I thought perhaps you had not read exactly what Condi Rice said about the meeting with Iran. Seems there is media questioning the real purpose of this meeting. So, who are we to believe? eh?
If only William Burns was directed by W to give Ahmadinejad the finger. We wish.
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