Where’ve you been lately, Condi Rice?
We’ve missed that tough-talking side of you that chases down dictators at press conferences!
Well… So much for that silly Study Group!
That was a waste of some good money that could have been used for two-ply toilet paper for our soldiers in Iraq.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates (L) in Washington DC. (AFP)
Condoleezza Rice tells Syria and Iran that they better shape up- and you can forget about talking with Syria that got us nowhere!!
The International Herald Tribune reports:
WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday rejected anew proposals for opening a diplomatic dialogue with Iran and Syria as a way to help stabilize Iraq.
Rice said Iran would demand U.S. concessions on its nuclear program in exchange for cooperation on Iraq. As for Syria, she said President Bashar Assad would demand an easing of the U.S. opposition to Syrian policies in Lebanon as his price for cooperation.
Bush’s strategy for the Iraq war calls for clamping down on what the United States sees as Iran and Syria’s support for insurgents and trying to get more help from American allies in the region.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, noted that the Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq policy recommended robust U.S. engagement with Iran and Syria.
Dodd said Syrian officials told a visiting Senate delegation recently that Syria “does not want a Shiite-dominated state on its border,” referring to Iraq. Such statements, Dodd suggested, could offer a basis for a dialogue.
Rice said that a parade of senior U.S. officials conferred with Syria during Bush’s first term, naming former Secretary of State Colin Powell; his top deputy, Richard Armitage; and Powell’s senior aide for the Middle East, William Burns.
Those talks, she said, “got nowhere.” She added that diplomats from Britain, Germany and Italy tried to engage with Damascus with equally fruitless results.
The Syrians, she said, “know how to stabilize Iraq. They just have to stop infiltration across borders.”
Yes! Now, that’s the Condi we know and love!
Iran and Syria and democrats and the media denounced the Bush plan today.
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