Window dressing diplomacy

Don't get confused by the sham negotiation proposal by Secretary of State Rice, the Bush administration has no intention of talking with Iran.

This move is a joke, and even Bush administration leakers know it. One "Senior Bush Administration Official" said that Cheney didn't like the idea, until they convinced him that they really didn't want direct talks either. "it came down to convincing Cheney and others that if we are going to confront Iran, we first have to check off the box"...Doesn't that sound exactly like Iraq? Didn't Cheney refuse to go to the UN but Powell and others said we have to check this box?

In both cases, the offers made to the Persian Gulf country that begins with an "I" were known non-starters. Taking lessons from the Godfather, Bush officials only making offers they know the other side will refuse.

If they were actually serious about resolving the conflict peacefully, they would have made this offer in private, see it tank, then keep talking until they got terms both could agree were face saving. Something like what Kennedy's team did during the Cuban missile crisis (move the missiles out of Turkey later in exchange for missiles out of Cuba).

Think about it this way, if the US was in Iran's position, would American politicians be willing to give up the potential for national and regional pride just to talk to a regime that really wants to bomb them anyway? Iranian officials might be ideologues, but they aren't stupid.

They aren't going to buy that puppy in the window because they know it really isn't for sale. It's just window dressing.