Posted on 06/26/2006 5:51:29 PM PDT by Alama
When two parties enter into negotiation over a life-and-death matter intending to cheat the other, in full knowledge that the other intends to cheat, how long does it take for negotiation to give way to violence? I have predicted US military action against Iran by Halloween (October 31), and I am sticking to my story (Military destiny and madness in Iran, June 6). Iran has no intention of abandoning its nuclear program, and the United States has no intention of abandoning its efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime. The US Republican Party's strategy for next November's congressional elections keeps the farce before the public. It is doubtful that it can be spun out that long. A warning on Friday from General George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq, that the Iranians "are using surrogates toconduct terrorist operations in Iraq both against us and against the Iraqi people" indicates how unstable the game has become. When Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad announced last week that Iran, inshallah, ("If Allah wills it") would answer America's proposal for direct negotiations in return for suspension of uranium enrichment, he betrayed both a keen sense of enjoyment and awareness of how much leverage Iran has over the White House. The US president's surprise visit to Baghdad signaled a Republican decision to run on the outcome of the Iraqi war. Iran's leverage over Shi'ite militias allows Tehran to determine the level of violence and the US casualty count. Without Iranian cooperation, President George W Bush has no hope of persuading US voters that he has made progress in stabilizing Iraq...
(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...
I seem to find it more liberal wishful thinking.
Tying Bush to Iranian good behavour in an attempt to influence the election. GW doesn't need to do that, but
the liberals need to be able to make a vast conspiracy out
of anything they can.
I'm confused by this. If the smart move is for Iran to play for time (in other words, to not provoke us into going after them), how is Iran helping itself by supporting both Shiite and Sunni insurgents. All that does is demonstrate that our attempts to work with Iran amount to a no-win proposition.
3:00 am Teheran time, February 10, 2007.
But don't tell the mullahs. It's supposed to be a surprise.
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