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Senator Kerry says willing to go to Iran
Yahoo ^ | 12-15-06 | Yahoo

Posted on 12/15/2006 10:04:11 AM PST by Cyrus the Great

CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John Kerry said on Friday he was willing to go to Tehran to talk to Iranian leaders but would not have time during his current Middle East tour.

"I don't have time and we were not able to make arrangements in the short timespan we had but I would be willing to go," he told reporters in Cairo, the first stop on his tour.

Asked if he planned to make a trip later, he said: "At the appropriate time, at some point."

Kerry, the Democratic candidate in the U.S. presidential election in 2004, is pressing the U.S. administration to reverse its policy of setting preconditions for dialogue with Syria and Iran.

He will visit Syria during his trip with fellow Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd. Both are members of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Kerry said the purpose of the mission to Damascus would be to listen to the Syrians and find out more about the Syrian government's positions on Lebanon, the Lebanese Shi'ite party Hezbollah and the violence in Iraq.

"I'm going to push them (the Syrians) on a number of different issues. I'm curious about what they might or might not be willing to do as we go forward here," he said.

"Do they have any suggestions how the various equations in the region might be changed?" he added.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Friday that the United States and Europe must talk to Syria and Iran if they want a comprehensive solution to Iraq and other Middle East conflicts.

Assad told Rome's la Repubblica newspaper Damascus was ready to cooperate with Washington to resolve regional issues and challenged Israel to open up to Syria.

A report released last week in Washington by a special panel recommended the United States engage Syria and Iran to bring about stability in Iraq.

The U.S. administration of President George W. Bush has argued that high-level talks with Syria are pointless because the Syrians do not respond to U.S. policy requests.

But Kerry said: "That's a mistake... It is nonsensical to set up not talking as some kind of reward/punishment barrier. I think we are shortchanging ourselves in that process."

The senator also found fault with Bush's campaign to make Middle East countries more democratic, which for a time was at the forefront of U.S. diplomatic rhetoric in the region.

"I don't think it's been particularly effective, in fact it has been counterproductive in certain quarters. It's created turmoil and uncertainty," he said.

"We will always be a nation that advocates democracy...but we need to be smart about the steps we take and the pace at which we demand people make transitions," he added.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 12/15/2006 10:04:14 AM PST by Cyrus the Great
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To: Cyrus the Great
IOW: "I wanted to go before I made sure I couldn't"
2 posted on 12/15/2006 10:05:58 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Prayers for our patriot brother, 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub. Brian, we're all pulling for you!)
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To: Cyrus the Great

can he stay there?
if so.. please.. by all means.


3 posted on 12/15/2006 10:06:12 AM PST by fhlh (Liberal (noun): A person so open minded, their brains have fallen out of their head.)
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To: Cyrus the Great

Would he be willing to stay there permanently?


4 posted on 12/15/2006 10:06:14 AM PST by TommyDale (Iran President Ahmadinejad is shorter than Tom Daschle!)
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To: Cyrus the Great

"willing to go to Tehran"

Is this part of the Allen Iverson trade?


5 posted on 12/15/2006 10:06:25 AM PST by jbwbubba
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To: Cyrus the Great

...and he can stay there.


6 posted on 12/15/2006 10:06:33 AM PST by Kurt_D
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To: Cyrus the Great
Well it's about damned time Johnny. The world has been going to pot while you've been on the sidelines, refusing to "work it out" by having a chat with Beelzebub.

Idiot Democrats.
7 posted on 12/15/2006 10:06:41 AM PST by Jaysun (I've never paid for sex in my life. And that's really pissed off a lot of prostitutes.)
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To: fhlh

You beat me by two seconds! :-)


8 posted on 12/15/2006 10:06:56 AM PST by TommyDale (Iran President Ahmadinejad is shorter than Tom Daschle!)
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To: Cyrus the Great

He already has the paperwork filled out for 4 Purple Hearts and the Navy Cross.


9 posted on 12/15/2006 10:07:17 AM PST by FormerACLUmember
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To: Cyrus the Great

F'n: I am more than willing to undermine the administration.


10 posted on 12/15/2006 10:07:25 AM PST by rightinthemiddle (Without the Media, the Left and Islamofacists are Nothing.)
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To: Cyrus the Great
"I don't have time and we were not able to make arrangements in the short timespan we had but I would be willing to go," he told reporters in Cairo, the first stop on his tour.

Can't he just quietly slip across the border, like that Christmas he spent in Cambodia?

11 posted on 12/15/2006 10:08:21 AM PST by Kenton ("The last time I raped Mother Earth all I got was a bad case of wood ticks")
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To: Cyrus the Great
Image hosted by Photobucket.com who's this mutt think he is anyway... jessy jerkoff or something???

better look out, or jessy gonna git-ya for steppin on his turf!!!

Yooo Hooo... I'm over HERE!!!

12 posted on 12/15/2006 10:08:53 AM PST by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
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To: Cyrus the Great

Another Hostage Crisis? Well, maybe not Crisis! Who would want him back?


13 posted on 12/15/2006 10:09:04 AM PST by SoldierDad (Proud Father of a 10th Mountain Division 2nd BCT Soldier back in the "SandBox")
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To: Cyrus the Great

"I've met more leaders who can't go out and say this publicly, but boy, they look at you and say, 'You got to win this. You got to beat this guy.' "


14 posted on 12/15/2006 10:09:18 AM PST by Lunatic Fringe (Say "NO" to the Trans-Texas Corridor)
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To: Cyrus the Great

"We will always be a nation that advocates democracy...but we need to be smart about the steps we take and the pace at which we demand people make transitions," he added."

He might as well have said, "The doggie ate my homework," for all I care.


15 posted on 12/15/2006 10:09:21 AM PST by conferencecaller
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To: Cyrus the Great

Gotta send him a tee-shirt to wear while he's there - with a big target printed on the back.


16 posted on 12/15/2006 10:10:36 AM PST by grobdriver (Let the embeds check the bodies!)
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To: Cyrus the Great

Cool, he can chat over mint juleps with David Duke.


17 posted on 12/15/2006 10:10:56 AM PST by .cnI redruM (Free enterprise will pave the road to the stars!)
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To: Cyrus the Great
I am sure he is willing to go to Iran. F'ing traitor will not willingly miss an opportunity to undermine the United States. Someone put this bastard on trial for Sedition please!
18 posted on 12/15/2006 10:11:48 AM PST by Danae (Anail nathrach, orth' bhais's bethad, do chel denmha)
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To: Cyrus the Great
The senator also found fault with Bush's campaign to make Middle East countries more democratic, which for a time was is at the forefront of U.S. diplomatic rhetoric in the region.

"I don't think it's been particularly effective, in fact it has been counterproductive in certain quarters. It's created turmoil and uncertainty," he said.

And THAT is why you are a clown Kerry. You just dont BELIEVE in freedom

19 posted on 12/15/2006 10:16:11 AM PST by mylife (The roar of the masses could be farts)
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To: grobdriver
Gotta send him a tee-shirt to wear while he's there - with a big target printed on the back

Good idea. Send him one of these.


20 posted on 12/15/2006 10:21:44 AM PST by mc5cents (Show me just what Mohammd brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman)
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