Brit Hume: The change with Iran is a change in tactics, not policy. The key is the allies are on board with the preconditions.
WOW; unexpected slap down of the gal from USA Today (page?) by Brit. Good for him -- he is so much smarter than anyone at the table. He is the BEST!
Brit: This is not an attempt to coax them to the table. The administration believes the security council is behind the preconditions and threat of sanctions. This has boxed Iran into a corner.
The allies (and adversaries) agreed to the preconditions to get the US to agree to direct talks. Now that that's a done deal the Iranians come back and refuse the preconditions. The allies (and adversaries) say to the US "since you've agreed to direct talks, your preconditions are an obstacle and you must give ground on that too, otherwise we'll blame you."
It's the standard negotiating position of the axis of weasels and they taught it to the PLO. Lie when you agree to something and never implement your side of the agreement, then demand that the other side (us or the Israelis) abide by every condition agreed to or we'll be called bad names. I think they learned it from Tip O'Neill.