Condoleeza Rice finally got something she wanted with the announcement by the government yesterday that the U.S. would hold talks with Iran and Syria in Baghdad over Iraqi security. But that was yesterday. Today, not surprisingly, the government has flip flopped its stance, with Tony Snow declaring last night that the U.S. will not be attending the diplomatic meeting unless Iran and Syria made changes to their policies.
“If between now and the 10th of March the Iranians suspended reprocessing and enrichment, then you’d have a different ballpark,” he said. “If the Syrians had changed their attitude toward Hamas and Hezbollah, OK.”
At the risk of arguments against the government coming off as fallacy, I am gonna try to leave out personal feelings and focus on logical reasoning. Point #1: Iran and Syria are Iraq’s immediate neighbors and share borders, you cannot stabilize a country if you’re at odds with it’s neighbors (we see this elsewhere with immigration, we cannot stop illegal aliens from entering without Mexico’s help). Point #2: global consensus for the U.S. to talk with Iran and Syria about not only Iraq but also a myriad of other issues. I know the government hates listening to other people, including its citizens, but it would do well to not burn bridges and keep the few remaining allies it has. Point #3: the Middle East has become and is further becoming a hotbed for extremism due to one country seeking to impose its unilateral agenda, let alone a country on the other side of the globe. Point #4: meeting with Iran and Syria under the pretense of Iraqi security would allow Americans and Iranians to actually discuss their nuclear dispute, as opposed to both sides slinging off threats through news wires. Point #5: the U.S. needs to consider any Iraqi security meeting no matter what they (Bush, Cheney et al.) think of the government of the other country, because the sooner Iraq gets stabilized the sooner all of our family and friends in the military will be able to come home.
I just don’t understand why this government will not talk to other governments that it deems potential threats. Back in the 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis communication was all we had, and without it we certainly wouldn’t be here right now. If Bush had been president and Washington and Moscow weren’t communicating at all while there were Soviet nuclear warheads on Cuba pointed at the U.S., you can bet that scenario would certainly have ended in a nuclear conflict. This government needs to send its senior leadership back to diplomacy 101. It’s disappointing and discouraging that our leaders cannot seem to learn from the past, and it makes me worry about the future of the country.