In the years after 9/11, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann worked at the highest levels of the Bush administration as Middle East policy experts for the National Security Council. Mann conducted secret negotiations with Iran. Leverett traveled with Colin Powell and advised Condoleezza Rice. They each played crucial roles in formulating policy for the region leading up to the war in Iraq. But when they left the White House, they left with a growing sense of alarm -- not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That was what people didn't realize. It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn't wait for the UN inspectors to leave. The steps have been many and steady and all in the same direction. And now things are getting much worse. We are getting closer and closer to the tripline, they say.
"The hard-liners are upping the pressure on the State Department," says Leverett. "They're basically saying, 'You've been trying to engage Iran for more than a year now and what do you have to show for it? They keep building more centrifuges, they're sending this IED stuff over into Iraq that's killing American soldiers, the human-rights internal political situation has gotten more repressive -- what the hell do you have to show for this engagement strategy?' "
But the engagement strategy was never serious and was designed to fail, they say. Over the last year, Rice has begun saying she would talk to "anybody, anywhere, anytime," but not to the Iranians unless they stopped enriching uranium first. That's not a serious approach to diplomacy, Mann says. Diplomacy is about talking to your enemies. That's how wars are averted. You work up to the big things. And when U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker had his much-publicized meeting with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad this spring, he didn't even have permission from the White House to schedule a second meeting.
The most ominous new development is the Bush administration's push to name the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.

the rest here:
http://www.esquire.com/features/iranbriefing1107

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when are we as a country gonna realize that this administration has an agenda that
has been in place since day one....and it has nothing or little to do with the wants
of the american people...are we so blind?.....how many people have to warn us?...

I awoke Thursday morning and I swear I heard Bush saying people were advising him to do something about Iran before he left office!!!

So you guys think they should nuke Iran? Amazing.

Don't you think it would be better to wait and let them nuke you?

I think we were agreeing that Bush is a moron, and was dragging America towards confrontations we dont want and dragging the name America thru the **** with him.

I think there may have been mention of how all this was made possible by a minority of blind, brainwashed Bushies!!!

I think thats right.. Let me check and I'll get back to you!!!

Look...Just turf Bush, and all his cronies..Before everyone in the world besides Americans hate the US!!!

Hell, reading some of these posts it looks like the Americans already hate the US. Its hardly like they are last in line.

Fanta, the country has always been controlled by a minority.

A majority elects a minority and the minority makes the rules until another minority is elected. When you get a scrambled brain like Harry Reid in control of such a body as the senate, you know there is not much hope. From listening to clear plain words (Rush) to misinterpreting them and creating a lying censure with a collection of senator's signatures is a small step for a pea brain. Any child could make more sense out of the situation.

So bash Bush, you don't like his politics, but there are plenty idiots in congress and the senate that might just as well be your target.

This looks like an interesting thread to watch.

Not being American myself, its interesting to see that what Americans views on Bush are.

Davinci, in response to your post. Yes it has the appearance that talks with Iran were never intended to succeed.

But do you think the hard-liners were wrong when they said "They keep building more centrifuges, they're sending this IED stuff over into Iraq that's killing American soldiers, the human-rights internal political situation has gotten more repressive"?

Because if those words are wrong, then this article gains a lot of weight. But if they are correct, then it may in fact be the case that the hard-liners are making an important point here.

Did you ever consider that the agenda being pursued by the administration might have been placed in their hands by events prior to their offices. Have any of you here considered that the administration's position is not simply the will of George W. but a culmination of opinions developed by a rather large group of people, including the state department and foreign affairs offices?

I do not think any of you have offered a serious solution to the problem Iran poses to peace in the world. I don't see war mongering in it. There is discussion, negotiation, pressure, and ultimately war if nothing else can succeed. This is not about forcing will on the unwilling. It is about preventing their will from crushing your own.

I suppose many here would like to say that wait and see would be a better choice, but some will see that as we wait things might get worse rather than better. For some there is never a point worth fighting over. In which position do you find yourself?

Did I read this right?

"Clear plain words'? Attributed to Rush?

Is that before of after he took his dose of narcotics??


One again, I am rolling on the floor!!

Brava, Phil!!!

Philosopher...

the point of this articles I believe is to alert us to the fact that the
current frothing at the mouth over Iran has been in the planning
stages long before the war of words in the last year...

For more than 30 years we negotiated with the Russians despite
the fact that they have thousands of missiles...but yet we are s'posed
tp get all bent out of shape over Iran who has none?...give me a
break...I doubt they are suicidal as a nation which they would have to be
if they started a war with us...

If we have reached the point of preemptive use of nukes as foreign policy
then heaven help us...

Basically I dont believe 50% of the garbage said about Iran....