Former Iran president faces snub in US

[leftchick]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14606639/

Mohammad Khatami, Iran's former president, embarks on a ground-breaking tour of the US this week to promote his vision of the role of religion in east-west reconciliation. But prospects for a breakthrough in US-Iranian relations appear bleak, with the Bush administration declaring it will not speak to him or attend his events.

<snip>

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser to Mr Carter, said diplomacy had to be reciprocal to work, and that the US could not expect one side to "demean itself to gain the forbearance of the other".

"The Bush administration has to be serious about finding a solution that avoids military confrontation," he told the FT. He said there were "significant elements" in the administration that wanted negotiations with Iran aborted to clear the way for military action, but that this faction had been weakened by the departure of key figures and the crisis in Iraq.

Analysts said it appeared that Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, and Nicolas Burns, under-secretary, were in favour of allowing the visit to go ahead, but did not have the will or political muscle to capitalise on the opportunity presented.

[msongs]

1. religion is the primary cause of the problems - its role is to butt out n

[AlamoDemoc]

2. I gather there are many CIA handlers just about

...that would prefer he keeps his mouth shut while the visit lasts.