DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - WASHINGTON D.C.: 180 DEGREE TURN WHEN IT COMES TO IRAN

I know this is written by Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey's but you should read it anyway...

Washington Begins Dialogue with Iran
By Philippe Gelie

There have been few complete turnabouts during the George W. Bush presidency, and they need to be examined closely.

By deciding to sit down at the same table as Iran's representatives, US diplomacy is clearly changing tack, after weeks of verbal and military escalation. But the emphasis placed by Washington on this "new diplomatic offensive" is more part of a comprehensive strategy than a break with it.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced to Congress on Tuesday [27 February] the United States' participation in two international conferences organized by the Iraqi Government. The first, convened for 10 March in Baghdad, will be attended by the ambassadors of all Iraq's neighbouring counties, plus Egypt and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The next meeting, scheduled for April in a country of the region, will convene the foreign ministers of the same countries, plus those of the G8. It would therefore provide Condoleezza Rice with the first opportunity to sit alongside her Iranian and Syrian counterparts, Manuchehr Motaki and Walid Mualem.

The last time a meeting took place at this level was in 2004, on the occasion of a similar conference at Sharm al-Shaykh. The context then was different: Tehran had not so involved in uranium enrichment, its revolutionary guards were mot accused of nurturing the insurrection in Iraq, Damascus was not implicated in political assassinations in Lebanon... Sat next to each other at a dinner, Colin Powell, then secretary of state, and his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, conversed, avoiding sensitive topics.

This time the State Department seems more open to the chances of starting a dialogue with Tehran. Washington accuses the Iranian regime of supplying fearsome explosive devices to the Shi'i militias in Iraq, a complaint that "will certainly be at the top of the list" of topics to be broached in Baghdad, US foreign policy spokesman Sean McCormack said. But he made a point of leaving open the possibility of broader direct discussions: "I would not at this stage rule out specific contacts on topics important to us."

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Pertinent Links:

1) Washington Begins Dialogue with Iran