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Ahmadinejad Gets the Direct Talks He Wanted

(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly released a long, insulting letter seeking direct talks with the U.S. last month, President Bush dismissed it as unworthy of reply. But Wednesday Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered the real U.S. answer: Yes. In a surprising policy reversal, Rice offered to negotiate directly with Iran's mullahs if they first suspend all uranium enrichment and cooperate with UN arms inspectors. The Secretary of State seems to have convinced Bush - over the doubts of Vice President Cheney and others - that this was the only way to prevent the U.S. from being isolated as our European allies ran for cover and Russia resisted any UN sanctions. Iran was already pocketing the direct talks and demanding that any negotiation be "without pre-conditions." This was entirely predictable, and you can bet this new Iranian demand will soon be echoed in Paris, Moscow, and all too many precincts in Washington. Iran's relentless drive for a nuclear weapon is a difficult problem, and perhaps Rice is right that direct diplomacy is essential to expose Iran's real purposes. But given Iran's track record, we'd say the Secretary has walked her President out on a limb where the pressure will soon build on him to make even more concessions. If this gambit fails, she'll have succeeded mainly in giving the mullahs more time to become a terrorist nuclear power.
2006-06-01 00:00:00
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