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.
Unfortunately, Kerry would probably fit right in with the students. And he'd have to kneel to look Mahmoud in the eye.
and his "aids" will have a Tshirt that says, "I'm with Stupid."
No surprises here, the poodle is willing to work with the opposition again. A pattern seems to be emerging, and it's ugly, quite fitting for him.
I wouldn't listen to any world leader who can't use better English than "You got...". I damn sure wouldn't quote them in public.
Just like he willingly interefered
with national policy when he went
and treasonously talked with the
Viet Cong in France...while we
were at war.
Waiting for him to get there would be the perfect time to drop the bomb.
Kerry would go to hell if he thought he could convince the devil that he's on his side..
Come to think of it,, I think he already did.
I'm for it only if hair agrees to stay there.
Magic CIA Cambodia Hat Bump!
Kerry was in Vietnam? :)
Ahhh the North Vietnam Talks, Part 2. Anything to betray America!
GO JOHN! GO! Go do what you do best. TALK!
Another stab at getting his "credibility" back.
Kerry should go to Iraq and appear in front of a gathering of US troops stationed there.
if mr kerry went there you could rest assured that the whole thing would be over within a few minutes of his arrival. the bush administration refuses to use his brilliance, his talent, his unparalelled insight into all things human to bring a successful conclusion to the war. mr kerry is the miracle man, the one to look to when things go bad, the genetically superior man in all things whose proper home IS the democrat party. AMEN
/sarcasm off/
Seeing as how they ban alcohol, I suspect Ter-ay-za won't be accompanying him.
So who's stopping the pompous, arrogant, thin-skinned blueblood with an enormous sense of entitlement but no snese of his own ridiculousness? Go JK, and don't bother coming back!
Rumor has it he is going to run against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in their next election. He is visiting a liitle town called I-O-Wah in the midwest part of Iran.
good idea there, Kerry, now maybe we can have peace in our time.
dont forget to wave the little piece of paper to the crowd at the airport as a sign of what you accomplished
Doesn't the Logan Act prohibit these morons from going over there and interfering with foreign policy?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.