by Jim Lobe
"With only three months left in office, U.S. President George W. Bush appears increasingly determined to calm the international waters he so vigorously churned up, especially during his first term.
In just the last several days, he has effectively rehabilitated a charter member of the "Axis of Evil" – North Korea – by agreeing to take it off the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for Pyongyang's agreement to resume its dismantling of a key nuclear facility and cooperate with U.S. and international inspectors......
Realists – including members of the 2006 Iraq Study Group headed by former secretary of state James Baker – have long urged Bush to drop preconditions for direct negotiations with Tehran. In June, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Michael Mullen, called for a "broad dialogue" with Iran.
Less than one month later, Bush sent a senior State Department official to participate for the first time in talks between the other permanent UN Security Council members, Germany, and Iran, amid reports that Iran had successfully tested advanced centrifuges that would permit it to accelerate its uranium enrichment program. He also tentatively agreed to Rice's idea of opening an interest section at that time, but the announcement was reportedly put off when Cheney and others opposed to the move argued that it could harm McCain's election chances.
The well-connected Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported Sunday, however, that the announcement will be made after the election in mid-November, a report echoed by Bolton the following day. "
"With only three months left in office, U.S. President George W. Bush appears increasingly determined to calm the international waters he so vigorously churned up, especially during his first term.
In just the last several days, he has effectively rehabilitated a charter member of the "Axis of Evil" – North Korea – by agreeing to take it off the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for Pyongyang's agreement to resume its dismantling of a key nuclear facility and cooperate with U.S. and international inspectors......
Realists – including members of the 2006 Iraq Study Group headed by former secretary of state James Baker – have long urged Bush to drop preconditions for direct negotiations with Tehran. In June, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Michael Mullen, called for a "broad dialogue" with Iran.
Less than one month later, Bush sent a senior State Department official to participate for the first time in talks between the other permanent UN Security Council members, Germany, and Iran, amid reports that Iran had successfully tested advanced centrifuges that would permit it to accelerate its uranium enrichment program. He also tentatively agreed to Rice's idea of opening an interest section at that time, but the announcement was reportedly put off when Cheney and others opposed to the move argued that it could harm McCain's election chances.
The well-connected Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reported Sunday, however, that the announcement will be made after the election in mid-November, a report echoed by Bolton the following day. "
No comments:
Post a Comment