New push for direct talks between US and Iran

[cal04]

As major powers struggle to curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions, the United States is coming under fresh pressure to engage in direct talks with the Islamic republic and avoid an Iraq-like path to war. The Bush administration has so far resisted, partly because of the bitter legacy of US-Iranian relations dating to the 1979 Islamic revolution, when radical students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. But a lack of viable alternatives may make negotiations -- with Tehran alone or together with Britain, France, Germany and others -- more and more appealing.

The US military is already stretched in its war on terrorism, the international community is deeply suspicious of Washington's intentions, and President George W. Bush's popularity has been undercut by the lack of success in Iraq.
At the same time, Iran's acceleration of its nuclear work, Washington's refusal to rule out force, and the failure of European diplomacy have stoked international anxiety. "It is now time for us to talk directly to Iran," Madeleine Albright, who was secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, told Reuters Television this week. "I do not see talking as appeasement and I think it would show our willingness to resolve an issue diplomatically -- obviously with the support of the international community."

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung recently said it would be hard to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough without direct Washington-Tehran contacts. Many others -- including Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and influential Senate Republican Richard Lugar -- also urge dialogue. Iran feels encircled by US forces and "one has to be blind and dumb not to see that all the pressure has united every faction in Iran, including reformers, behind the nuclear program," said a senior diplomat in Vienna familiar with IAEA operations in Iran who was not authorized to speak for the record. "Where is the logic of not talking if the Americans can talk to North Korea," he said.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=674462006

[pinto]

1. It would be a smart move on our part. Scale down the rhetoric

- on both sides - and work to resolve the issue.

[Seabiscuit]

2. Isn't it about time to have a Secretary of State and a President who are

willing to TALK instead of threaten?

Fugghediboutit - NOT going to happen with these friggin' neocons.

2008 or BUST!

... or should I say BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!