‘US and Iran Break Ice Over Iraq’
This is what Jim Muir of the BBC reports from Baghdad
“The one-day conference of Iraq’s neighbours, attended by other interested parties including the Americans and British, seems to have passed off as well as anybody expected.
“It was the first formal encounter between the Americans and Iranians – who have no diplomatic relations – for more than two years. US relations with Syria are almost as bad.
“Both countries are accused by Washington of fostering terrorism and enabling arms, fighters and money to cross their borders into Iraq – charges they deny.
“This ice-breaking encounter seems to have gone down well all round.
“The US ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, who led the US team, spoke later about the positive and businesslike atmosphere.
“Despite controversy over contacts with the US, Iranian and Syrian newspapers on Sunday generally welcomed the outcome of the meeting.” Read on…
5 Responses to “‘US and Iran Break Ice Over Iraq’”
At last!
It would have been naive to expect too much from this first, exploratory, meeting.
That it happened at all is a positive, though.
I hope our administration takes note of the fact that it survived the experience, America is still standing, and nothing was lost.
What was gained was a foot in the door to actual diplomacy to lessen the tensions.
This is a hugely positive development, especially if it can be buily upon.
Anyone notice Condi wasn’t mentioned at all? This is why it’s going as good as it is, no morons to mess it up so far.
This is really a step in the right direction. Perhaps it will prove to friends and foes alike that Americans are not really the arrogant, insensitive jerks that we have been acting like for the past 6 years. This is a welcome move away from the Bush Doctrine, and recognizes that diplomacy is an art, and not just the first tool you pull from the tool box before sending in the B-52s.
It shows me that Bush is serious about leaving behind a legacy that has some positive diplomatic achievements and has moved out of Cheney’s sphere of influence.
It was noticed:
> Anyone notice Condi wasn’t mentioned at all?
Yes.
Official Bush policy (and realistic views of anyone who is intelligent) is to have little faith in dialogue, much less “dialogue for dialogue’s sake” *snicker*. More to the point here, Iran and Syria haven’t yet made the corrections and reforms that would merit participation by Rice or other higher level people in Washington itself. These truly were low-key initial talks, little more than a mere formality. (They weren’t worth more at this time, given how Iran behaved during these initial talks.)
What if Rice went to Iran and Syria. Especially Iran — would Iran start playing games with all kinds of demands related to its nuclear weapons program, the way North Korea has done for several years? (At least Iran doesn’t need heavy fuel oil to divert to illicit purposes, but if there are food shortages in Iran, well, food aid might be sought.)