The show of Diplomacy

Posted by Mary Mancini on June 1, 2006 under Uncategorized |

And by “show” we mean “false appearance.”

According to the NY Times, “Engagement with Iran hinges on convincing Cheney to “check off the box” of trying talks. “There was strong opposition [to engagement] from the White House, particularly from Vice President Dick Cheney, according to several former officials. ‘Cheney was dead set against it,’ said one former official who sat in many of those meetings. ‘At its heart, this was an argument about whether you could isolate the Iranians enough to force some kind of regime change.’ But three officials who were involved in the most recent iteration of that debate said Mr. Cheney and others stepped aside — perhaps because they read Mr. Bush’s body language, or perhaps because they believed Iran would scuttle the effort by insisting that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty gives it the right to develop nuclear fuel. The United States insists that Iran gave up that right by deceiving inspectors for 18 years. In the end, said one former official who has kept close tabs on the debate, ‘it came down to convincing Cheney and others that if we are going to confront Iran, we first have to check off the box’ of trying talks.”

It’s nice that he can play with our lives like this.