Is A Deal Possible?

by Steve

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Somewhere today, Condi is smiling and those two pissed-off guys in the corner are Shooter and John Bolton. The White House may have assumed that the Iranians would summarily reject the incentives offered by the European Union today for Iran to stop enrichment. Doing so would allow Shooter and Bolton to say, “We told you so” and press ahead with plans for a military strike. Instead, the Iranians did what a good negotiator would do in this situation, and offered a positive reaction to the carrots offered by the Bush Administration, incentives which reportedly include light-water reactors, Airbus aircraft, access to American aircraft parts, as well as WTO membership and the use of American agricultural technology. Yeah, it appears we threw in the kitchen sink.

Perhaps it is too early to conclude that Condi has steered US foreign policy away from the first term’s “hard power” towards John Kerry’s “soft power” approach, as suggested by the BBC today. Actions speak louder than words, and it remains to be seen if Condi can get Bush to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat over the objections of his war party inside the White House. But Bush’s failed foreign policy, which has left Iraq and Afghanistan in shambles while doing nothing to stop Al Qaeda, is the catalyst for what Rice appears to be pushing now.

So what would be on the political menu here at home for November if Rice is able to keep Iran from becoming the next war? Well then, it must be time for another domestic terror strike to remind voters that Daddy Protector is still here, except that folks may wonder why it is that Bush can’t stop Bin Laden or homegrown goobers.