Former US Officials Called On The White House To Initiate Direct Talks With Iran

[Purveyor]

AFP - Former US officials called on the White House Wednesday to initiate direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program instead of relying solely on sanctions to persuade Tehran to change course.

The 35 prominent ex-diplomats, military officers and other officials from both political parties issued a report urging President Barack Obama to renew diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis and take advantage of economic sanctions that have hit Iran hard.

"The United States should now dedicate as much energy and creativity to negotiating directly with Iran as it has to assembling a broad international coalition to pressure and isolate Iran," said the report from the Iran Project, a non-partisan group.

"Only by taking such a rebalanced approach might the United States achieve its objectives with respect to Iran's nuclear program," it said.

Those who signed the report included former Republican senator Richard Lugar; Michael Hayden, ex-CIA director under president George W. Bush; Ryan Crocker, the former US ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.

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http://www.france24.com/en/20130417-former-us-officials-urge-direct-diplomacy-with-iran

[still_one]

1. I hesitate to say this looking at that list, but opening talks seem reasonable

[denverbill]

2. Obama ain't gonna listen to that namby-pampy kumbaya liberal bullshit.

Close Gitmo? Hell no. Respect Venezuelan sovereignty? Pshah. Pull American forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan? Not bloody likely.
End the embargo of Cuba? Ha! Close maybe one or two of the hundreds of military bases we have around the world? Never in a million years.

He's more likely to listen to Roger Noriega than anyone to the left of Reagan.