White House, Obama camp squabble over Iran meeting

[babylonsister]

Good move, Senator Obama. OWN the idea of diplomacy!

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/white-house-obama-camp-squabble-over-iran-meeting-2008-07-16.html

White House, Obama camp squabble over Iran meeting
By Sam Youngman
Posted: 07/16/08 03:15 PM


The White House on Wednesday adamantly denied Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) claim that the U.S. is negotiating with Iran by sending a high-level diplomat to a meeting with an Iranian official this weekend.

By sending Undersecretary of State Bill Burns to Geneva to meet with the Tehran emissary, the White House has “shifted course” from refusing to negotiate with the country, the Illinois senator said in a statement.

snip//

Obama said this was a good first step toward pushing toward a diplomatic solution to halting Iran's nuclear program.

"Now that the United States is involved, it should stay involved with the full strength of our diplomacy," Obama said. "A united front with our friends and allies directly calling on the Iranians to stand down on their illicit nuclear program will maximize the international pressure we can bring to bear and will show the Iranian people that Iran's isolation is a function of its government's unwillingness to live up to its obligations. Iran should live up to its obligations now; by waiting, it will only face greater isolation."

Perino said sending Burns was a signal that the Bush administration is committed to a diplomatic solution, and she said high oil prices and last week's Iranian missile tests had nothing to do with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's decision to send Burns.

[loveable liberal]

1. Condi made a decision? that is bullshit.

[Inuca]

2. Seems like a last moment decision, but who knows...

in the SFRC hearing on Iran last week, Burns was asked repeatedly by Hagel about this very same thing and avoided to answer http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/16/iran.usforeignpolicy A test of US flexibility toward Iran

Very interesting meeting, by the way, and Burns seemed to be a smart and respected (both Biden and Lugar were all over him in admiration, others as well I think) professional.

[kevinmc]

3. Obama is running circles around these guys .....

Yesterday it was McCain and Afghanistan .... today Bush and Iran.

[Cha]

4. Yeah, the white house wouldn't want to be seen

as using diplomacy..they'd rather lie, lie some more, and bomb it to smithereens and take over the oil leases.

[Voice for Peace]

5. they don't want to be seen as using Obama's ideas but that's exactly what they're doing

though not for the same reasons

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. as with North Korea, this administration is discovering that it has to do what their opponent have

been saying for years

[Leftist Agitator]

7. Is this a reflection of how badly Bush knows he has fucked up?

Is this an attempt to leave a positive legacy, and do the right fucking thing for once?

Or the prelude to a regional conflagration kicked of by an American or Israeli military action against Iran?

:shrug: