US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice responded to ElBaradei:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought today to minimize any sense of division within the Bush administration over Iran after the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency delivered a pointed new warning against what he called the “new crazies†pushing for military action against Tehran.
“The President of the United States has made it clear that we are on a course that is a diplomatic course,†Ms. Rice said here. “That policy is supported by all of the members of the cabinet, and by the vice president of the United States.â€
Absolutely ludicrous that this response, this explanation, is deemed necessary by Rice et al. ElBaradei should not have said what he said, the US should have told him so, and that should have been the end of it. It is not ElBaradei’s job to criticize US foreign policy: it is his job to make sure that countries like Iran do not develop nuclear weapons. Rice should have said that ElBaradei should focus a bit more on doing his job, and a bit less on what America does.
Cross posted at my own blog.
