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The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know
Esquire magazine ^ | October 17, 2007 | John H. Richardon

Posted on 10/17/2007 8:07:38 AM PDT by america4vr

In the years after 9/11, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann worked at the highest levels of the Bush administration as Middle East policy experts for the National Security Council. Mann conducted secret negotiations with Iran. Leverett traveled with Colin Powell and advised Condoleezza Rice. They each played crucial roles in formulating policy for the region leading up to the war in Iraq. But when they left the White House, they left with a growing sense of alarm -- not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That was what people didn't realize. It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn't wait for the UN inspectors to leave. The steps have been many and steady and all in the same direction. And now things are getting much worse. We are getting closer and closer to the tripline, they say.

"The hard-liners are upping the pressure on the State Department," says Leverett. "They're basically saying, 'You've been trying to engage Iran for more than a year now and what do you have to show for it? They keep building more centrifuges, they're sending this IED stuff over into Iraq that's killing American soldiers, the human-rights internal political situation has gotten more repressive -- what the hell do you have to show for this engagement strategy?' "

But the engagement strategy was never serious and was designed to fail, they say. Over the last year, Rice has begun saying she would talk to "anybody, anywhere, anytime," but not to the Iranians unless they stopped enriching uranium first. That's not a serious approach to diplomacy, Mann says. Diplomacy is about talking to your enemies. That's how wars are averted.

(Excerpt) Read more at esquire.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: flyntleverett; hillarymann; iran; iraq; jihadists; mahdi; middleeast; tehran; victory; waronterror
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To: Red Badger

“Diplomacy is about talking to your enemies. That’s how wars are averted.”

— Neville Chamberlin


41 posted on 10/17/2007 9:21:43 AM PDT by Clioman
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To: Vaquero

These people believed and identified with their Iranian contacts more than the White House. “He voted for Bush in 2000”- sure.
Powell CYA loyalists.


42 posted on 10/17/2007 9:26:10 AM PDT by steve8714
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To: BenLurkin

If the Media had its way, the Islamos would be running the NY Times in stopping any talk of opposing any Islamofascist globalization. I hope the Bushies are planning a contingency to stop the Iranians. When Hil wins, we will have Muslim schools telling the parents how to raise our kids!


43 posted on 10/17/2007 9:27:04 AM PDT by phillyfanatic
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To: Seeking the truth

But, but, he voted for Bush! He says so!


44 posted on 10/17/2007 9:29:00 AM PDT by steve8714
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To: america4vr

“Diplomacy is about talking to your enemies. That’s how wars are averted.”

WRONG....
Basic Machevelli:

Diplomacy only works when BOTH SIDES have something to gain by it, such as the prevention of a war.

In this case, the nutjobs in IRAN want the War, and the BOMB, so they have nothing to gain by negotiating...


45 posted on 10/17/2007 9:31:46 AM PDT by tcrlaf (You can lead a Liberal to LOGIC, but you can't make it THINK)
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To: america4vr

In other Esquire news...

Charlize Theron has an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award. Now she’s Esquire magazine’s “sexiest woman alive.”

When I want solid, hard-hitting journalism, I grab a copy of Esquire.

BTW - Iran has been at war with the US since the 70s. Its about time we fight back!


46 posted on 10/17/2007 9:37:34 AM PDT by Kandy Atz ("Let him rave on that men may know him mad.")
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To: america4vr

Iran is nothing more than the next domino in the war on terror.
We will have to confront them sooner or later.
It’s better if it’s on our terms and before they have a viable nuke to use.


47 posted on 10/17/2007 9:38:40 AM PDT by BuffaloJack (Before the government can give you a dollar it must first take it from another American)
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To: mad puppy
Carter:the first female president?

No, that is not correct. While that what defines a Democrat/left-winger/ liberal is the very emasculation of political will/fortitude, Carter is our first eunuch president.

48 posted on 10/17/2007 10:05:55 AM PDT by america4vr
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To: america4vr

One day during the U.S. bombing campaign, Mann and her Iranian counterparts were sitting around the wooden conference table speculating about the future Afghani constitution. Suddenly the Iranian who knew so much about intelligence matters started pounding on the table. "Enough of that!" he shouted, unfurling a map of Afghanistan. Here was a place the Americans needed to bomb. And here, and here, he angrily jabbed his finger at the map.

Iran is happy to work with anyone, including nations' it considers to be irredeemably evil, to achieve its imperial ambitions. Iranian officials understand how to manipulate the idealists in every democratic Administration. Indeed, Europe is far more susceptible to Iranian political obfuscations. The fact is, the Islamic Republic of Iran is always looking for traction. They operate by proxy! It’s a global pattern that endures because of its effectiveness. Mann and her husband have served a similar purpose within the Administration. In other words, Mann and her husband are proxy agents for spreading Iran’s empire.

It doesn't matter what the Iranians offered. It only matters what they do and when they do it. Nothing in this article indicates Tehran’s willingness to stop spreading its toxic ideology. Nothing in this article indicates Iran’s will to join the international community as a partner. These are the most basic principals of cooperation and mutual respect. Mann and her husband were the inadvertent vehicles for another of Tehran's misinformation campaigns. This is a scary article. It is sad to see how politically malleable these two were in the midst of an ideological war. For their unwitting service to Tehran, they've lost a great deal of career potential. It would seem that their real handicap is an inability to listen to their own situation holistically. Mann should have learned from the exchange I excerpted. It is the only piece of seemingly classified information her and her husband leaked with any substance.

49 posted on 10/17/2007 10:08:23 AM PDT by humint (...err the least and endure! VDH)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

BAHHHHHHHHAAAAAAA HAHAHA!

Right?

Esquire? PLEASE!


50 posted on 10/17/2007 10:15:28 AM PDT by debm29palms (Proud Wife of SSgt. Donald C. May, Jr. KIA March 25, 2003)
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To: LonePalm
A few weeks later, after signing on to Condoleezza Rice's staff as the new Iran expert in the National Security Council, Mann flew to Europe with Ryan Crocker -- then a deputy assistant secretary of state -- to hold talks with a team of Iranian diplomats. Meeting in a light-filled conference room at the old UN building in Geneva, they hammered out plans for Iranian help in the war against the Taliban. The Iranians agreed to provide assistance if any American was shot down near their territory, agreed to let the U. S. send food in through their border, and even agreed to restrain some "really bad Afghanis," like a rabidly anti-American warlord named Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, quietly putting him under house arrest in Tehran. These were significant concessions. At the same time, special envoy James Dobbins was having very public and warm discussions in Bonn with the Iranian deputy foreign minister as they worked together to set up a new government for Afghanistan. And the Iranians seemed eager to help in more tactical ways as well. They had intimate knowledge of Taliban strategic capabilities and they wanted to share it with the Americans.

One day during the U. S. bombing campaign, Mann and her Iranian counterparts were sitting around the wooden conference table speculating about the future Afghani constitution. Suddenly the Iranian who knew so much about intelligence matters started pounding on the table. "Enough of that!" he shouted, unfurling a map of Afghanistan. Here was a place the Americans needed to bomb. And here, and here, he angrily jabbed his finger at the map.

Clearly, the turnip truck Mann fell of of was not headed to the Wup-Ass manufacturing plant. Doubly suckered - by the haters in State and by Iranians who had their own targets in mind. He still hasn't figured it out.

51 posted on 10/17/2007 10:21:36 AM PDT by frithguild (The Freepers moved as a group, like a school of sharks sweeping toward an unaware and unarmed victim)
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To: frithguild
Sounds like you stocked up as well.

Mann doesn't strike me as the sharpest tool in the shed.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)

LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

52 posted on 10/17/2007 10:28:02 AM PDT by LonePalm (Commander and Chef)
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To: humint
Mann and her husband were the inadvertent vehicles for another of Tehran's misinformation campaigns.

useful idiots

53 posted on 10/17/2007 10:35:32 AM PDT by frithguild (The Freepers moved as a group, like a school of sharks sweeping toward an unaware and unarmed victim)
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To: kitkat

I only look at the pictures...;’}


54 posted on 10/17/2007 10:37:00 AM PDT by rockrr (Global warming is to science what Islam is to religion)
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To: america4vr; shield
I hope it is true, it’s about damn time we taught Iran a lesson.
55 posted on 10/17/2007 10:47:53 AM PDT by Perdogg (Join the NCAA basketball thread - Freemail me - Go tarheels!)
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To: Seeking the truth

I wonder if the warm grapes in that bowl were sour?


56 posted on 10/17/2007 11:00:21 AM PDT by mimaw
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To: america4vr

“Diplomacy is about talking to your enemies. That’s how wars are averted.”

Again, liberals try to convince everyone that war is the worst thing in the world. War deaths are somehow far worse than deaths caused by tyrants in times of “peace”.


57 posted on 10/17/2007 11:02:20 AM PDT by L98Fiero (A fool who'll waste his life, God rest his guts.)
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To: america4vr
But when they left the White House, they left with a growing sense of alarm -- not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That was what people didn't realize.

I sure HOPE the administration is readying for a possible war with Iran! If President Iwannajihad pulls the trigger, doesn't everyone think we should be prepared?

58 posted on 10/17/2007 11:02:45 AM PDT by SuziQ
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To: Suzy Quzy

Esquire: aren’t they into men’s fashion?


59 posted on 10/17/2007 11:05:53 AM PDT by juliej (Vote GOP!)
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To: DCPatriot; Bringbackthedraft
It was 444 days before Ronald Reagan.

And President Iwannajihad remembers it well, having participated in the Embassy takeover and the holding of the hostages all that time.

60 posted on 10/17/2007 11:07:18 AM PDT by SuziQ
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