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Iraq Study Group Report Flunks Realism 101

[Arizona Republic] Orde Kittrie - The Iraq Study Group Report calls on the U.S. to "actively engage Iran and Syria" in "diplomatic dialogue, without preconditions." The West has been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program for the last four years. These fruitless negotiations demonstrate that Iran will not be distracted from its revolutionary goals by carrots and that Iran is a master of using negotiations to avoid consequences for breaking international law. Iranian officials have publicly bragged about how the negotiations between Iran and the West have bought Iran time to move forward with its nuclear program. The U.S. will not be able to achieve its goals in the Middle East - including stopping terrorism before it reaches our homeland - until Iran and Syria are convinced that there is a price to pay for inflaming Iraq, supporting terrorism, and, in Iran's case, building nuclear bombs. The danger that would be posed to the U.S. and its allies by a nuclear-armed Iran dwarfs the dangers our troops currently face in Iraq. If there is to be a "New Diplomatic Offensive," it should focus on building support for sanctioning rather than appeasing Iran and Syria. The writer, a professor of international law at Arizona State University, served in the U.S. State Department for 11 years, including as senior attorney for nuclear affairs, and negotiated five nuclear non-proliferation agreements between the U.S. and Russia.
2006-12-15 01:00:00
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