Hand Her A Dictionary, Please
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has an interesting view of diplomatic solutions. She apparently thinks that diplomatic resolution involves speaking with another nation with whom we have a problem only after that nation has given up their position on the issue. That's essentially what she told her friendly audience yesterday, according to this article in the NY Times.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice escalated the Bush administration’s anti-Iran rhetoric on Tuesday, accusing its government of pursuing nuclear weapons and calling any dialogue with its leaders pointless until they suspend the country’s enrichment of uranium.
While Ms. Rice’s message was familiar, the tone of her speech, before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was unusually sharp, taking oblique aim at Senator Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders who have called for the United States to engage Iran diplomatically. [Emphasis added]
Two things about this speech:
First, the primary issue the US has with Iran is their nuclear plans. Demanding the Iranians give up those plans before meeting with them to discuss the issue is the kind of solipsistic reasoning that hardly merits the designation of diplomacy.
Second, Sec. Rice chose AIPAC to deliver her ultimatum, an audience Iran had to take note of. While the White House no doubt wanted to assure Israel that the US intended to keep the pressure on Iran so that Israel need not fear for its security, it is clear that the White House also was using the context of that speech to prepare for the next stage in the bullying of Iran:
...Administration and Israeli officials said that President Bush could soon announce a security package for Israel that could include cruise missiles and a permanent hookup to a worldwide warning system against incoming ballistic missiles.
Ms. Rice alluded to such a package in her Aipac speech. “We will continue to improve the security capability of our friends, including their missile defense,” she said.
Well, that certainly will bring Iran to the "bargaining" table, eh?
It has long been clear that this administration has no intention of diplomatically engaging Iran, that it is preparing for a different kind of engagement, the kind it much prefers, one that involves cruise missiles.
230 days.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice escalated the Bush administration’s anti-Iran rhetoric on Tuesday, accusing its government of pursuing nuclear weapons and calling any dialogue with its leaders pointless until they suspend the country’s enrichment of uranium.
While Ms. Rice’s message was familiar, the tone of her speech, before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was unusually sharp, taking oblique aim at Senator Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders who have called for the United States to engage Iran diplomatically. [Emphasis added]
Two things about this speech:
First, the primary issue the US has with Iran is their nuclear plans. Demanding the Iranians give up those plans before meeting with them to discuss the issue is the kind of solipsistic reasoning that hardly merits the designation of diplomacy.
Second, Sec. Rice chose AIPAC to deliver her ultimatum, an audience Iran had to take note of. While the White House no doubt wanted to assure Israel that the US intended to keep the pressure on Iran so that Israel need not fear for its security, it is clear that the White House also was using the context of that speech to prepare for the next stage in the bullying of Iran:
...Administration and Israeli officials said that President Bush could soon announce a security package for Israel that could include cruise missiles and a permanent hookup to a worldwide warning system against incoming ballistic missiles.
Ms. Rice alluded to such a package in her Aipac speech. “We will continue to improve the security capability of our friends, including their missile defense,” she said.
Well, that certainly will bring Iran to the "bargaining" table, eh?
It has long been clear that this administration has no intention of diplomatically engaging Iran, that it is preparing for a different kind of engagement, the kind it much prefers, one that involves cruise missiles.
230 days.
Labels: Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Iran
posted by Diane at 4:13 AM
1 Comments:
Law breakers have no use for diplomacy. At most, it's a ritualistic dance of some distant tribes.
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