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This is the kind of escape hatch the Dem'crats have been looking for.
In ordinary circumastnces, the offer would never have come from Syria and Iran. Apparently, the gist of the Baker report encourages this very action. They knew that Bush would never have gone for it, when he has some degree of support from the Congress.
But now, Congress has changed hands, and the leaders of Syria and Iran think they have an ally here in the US, in their personal vendetta against George W. Bush. They mistakenly think that Bush could be somehow maneuvered into accepting a "way out" of Iraq, by turning over the fate of that country to the instigators of most of the internal strife there today.
The Dem'crats will claim this is their opening for an exit from Iraq, and since Bush won't act upon it, then obviously, Bush should be impeached.
Folks, this is a synchronized effort. And it is nothing less than treason against all that America has ever stood for. The fact that a very serious potential warmonger was deposed from office in Iraq means nothing to the opposition here and abroad.
And nobody seems to care that these consequences are exactly those that spell the end to whatever it was that the founding fathers of America were striving to create.
All attributed to "anonymous sorces".
We are positively nuts if we try to enlist the help of Syria or Iran in the Iraq War.
Why would we feel compelled to lead from weakness instead of strength?
One of the very few times I disagree with VDH ... we should be offering Syria and Iran an ULTIMATUM -- quit supporting the terrorists in Iraq and attempting to build nukes, or be bombed back to the Stone Age.
Alas, the current crop of appeasers and defeatists in Washington (GWB included, unfortunately) will never go that route. However, it is the only way the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular will ever get sorted out to our (and ultimately the world's) advantage.
Negotiate out of strength not weakness. It's sad that one election in the US has such a dramatic effect around the world. What happened to American will power or G W Bush's will in staying the coarse? MSM media presents the worst case situation in Iraq and the troops on the ground and their general says the opposite -- who are we to believe? What about the WOT or the Americans who have given their lives for this war... does the US abandon everything and retreat? I can only hope that Bush has something up his sleeve and that he acts out of strength and resolve. This is not the time for half measures with terrorist states. Get the job done.
Thank you for posting the first bit of good sense I have seen with regards to "negotiations" with Iran and Syria. It is pointless to negotiate from weakness. It is in Iran's interest to meddle in Iraq, so they will continue to do so. Liberals who demand negotiations for the sake of negotiations (as I believe Kissinger put it in describing the Cold War) will get nothing but frustration in return.
My approach to this would be simple - glad to listen, boys, what have you got to offer and what do you want for it? And what happens when you don't deliver? It shortens the process somewhat and leaves an awful lot of diplomats out of a job, but there's always the army for those who can't find better work. < /Kerry >
If we are perceived as the "weak horse" in Iraq, whatever support we have there will evaporate like dew in the desert and all sides will turn on us. We need to get our act together quickly there or we are cooked. We need stong measures now, not "stateman-like" ones which appear to be coming out of this worthless latest Iraq Commission.
Our blood is seen in the water because of our feckless dithering everywhere and our latest Election. We seem to pulling our punches everywhere. No wonder we get no respect. A perceived coward never does.
I'm beginning to wonder if we have the stomach to win this long war against the Islamic Caliphate. We seem to hold most of the cards except "desire". And we certainly don't have "unity".
We should not threaten Iran and Syria but rather we should beat the sh*t out them. Enough is enough. A two weeks intensive Air Campaign against Iran to destroy their nuclear facilities and military infrastructure will teach the terrorists SOB in Tehran that they are not going to control the Middle East, once Iran is beaten, broken, and humiliated, the Syrian terrorist regime will stop messing around.