Did I miss a memo? Are the terrorists winning? Continuing a trend mentioned earlier today, President Bush is giving indications that he may open up discussions with Iran and Syria as part of regional talks on how to stabalize Iraq. There are rules, however. For Iran to come to the table, it has to “verifiably suspend” its nuclear program. For Syria, it has to “stop destabilizing” Lebanon’s government.
Now, this gives Bush a ton of wiggle room. Iran and Syria can say in upcoming weeks and months that they are hemming to Bush’s rules, and Bush can always respond by saying, “Our evidence indicates the opposite.” So, in essence, Bush can decide to allow Iran and Syria to join regional talks whenever he’s good and ready.
So, in the end, the Bush Administration continues to present the image of progress, while hedging on any genuine change. I wonder if this is part of Bush’s grand plan to make bloggers question why they bother going through the trouble…
