WP: U.S. Agrees to Meeting with Iran and Syria

[DeepModem Mom]

U.S. Agrees to Meeting with Iran and Syria

The Bush administration has agreed to sit around a negotiating table with official representatives of Iran and Syria next month -- as part of a planned regional conference in Baghdad to discuss ways to stabilize Iraq.

In joining the Baghdad conference, the administration is tiptoeing into what has become one of the most contentious issues in the roiling Iraq debate. Critics for months have been urging the administration to end its diplomatic isolation of Iran and Syria and begin a constructive dialogue with them about how to stabilize Iraq. Even former secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has generally supported administration policy on Iraq, argued in an op-ed piece last weekend that it’s time to end the diplomatic quarantine and convene an international conference on Iraq.

The Iraqi government is expected to announce the regional conference as early as Tuesday. The government will invite representatives of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States -- in addition to all of its Mideast neighbors.

Though it will bring together American, Syrian and Iranian representatives, the Baghdad meeting doesn’t signal a direct U.S. diplomatic engagement with Iran and Syria. A senior State Department official said Monday night that it wasn’t likely there would be separate bilateral meetings with Iran or Syria. Rather, the planned Baghdad meeting is an extension of the administration’s current policy of using the Iraqi government as the channel for discussions with Iran and Syria about Iraqi security.

The initial meeting, tentatively planned for the first half of March, will be at the ambassadorial level, the State Department official said. The American representative will be Zalmay Khalilzad, the current U.S. ambassador to Iraq, or his successor, Ryan Crocker. Khalilzad has long favored direct meetings with Iran. If the initial meeting goes well, a second meeting at the foreign minister level is planned for April....

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/needtoknow/2007/02/us_agrees_to_meet_in_baghdad_w.html

[shadowknows69]

1. Is this the "see we tried diplomacy" phase

right before the massive bombing phase?

[HuffleClaw]

6. i'd call it the 'ultimatum' stage

that they'll CALL the 'we tried diplomacy' phase

[blues90]

17. Sure sounds like it .

[Straight Shooter]

2. Well, if Kindasleezy Rice attends, I hope she brushes up on her history first.

Every time she opens her mouth she underwhelms everyone with her insight.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Sounds like the meeting will be among officials below her level. nt

[Straight Shooter]

4. Nematodes? n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

5. ....

:)

[Eugene]

7. Reuters: Iran, Syria and U.S. to attend Baghdad talks-Iraq

Iran, Syria and U.S. to attend Baghdad talks-Iraq
27 Feb 2007 11:31:04 GMT
Source: Reuters

-snip-

BAGHDAD, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Officials from states bordering Iraq will join U.S. and
British envoys at a meeting in Baghdad next month to discuss how they can help
stem the violence afflicting the country, Iraq's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters the mid-March meeting would be a chance for Western
and regional powers, including Iran and Syria, that have sparred over Iraq to try
to overcome some of their differences.

-snip-

Iraq has been planning the meeting for weeks, but until Tuesday it had been expected
to involve only officials from countries bordering Iraq and other Muslim states.

-snip-

Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the United Nations who are based in
Baghdad have confirmed they will take part, he said. "Everybody agreed to attend after
tough negotiations," Zebari said.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/YAT739700.htm

[wakeme2008]

8. And the CIA are flying in their special planes to take some

members to special "hotels"

I just would not trust going to Iraq if I was Syria and Iran...

[rodeodance]

9. ah, the WH backtracking again (for the good this time)---

[Heidi]

10. Kick.

:kick:

[MaineDem]

11. U.S., Iran and Syria may talk face to face about Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States and its adversaries in Iran and Syria may for the first time since the Iraq war began meet face to face at a conference next month to discuss the situation in Iraq.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. supports the forum, which will take place in the first half of March in Iraq.

It could set the stage for a ministerial-level meeting in April that will include the Group of Eight -- the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia -- and Iraq's neighbors -- Syria, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey.

Multilateral organizations and China -- the only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council which is not in the G-8 -- will also be invited, Rice said.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/27/iraq.conference/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Sorry if this is a dupe. I really did look. This seems like such an about-face to me that I couldn't imagine someone hadn't already posted it. The BBC news had it an hour ago.

So now the Bushies want to talk with Iran??? Isn't this what the Democrats have been saying for ages?

[wakeme2008]

12. Rice and Bush are sh--ttting their pants :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6403633.stm

Part of the answer to the first came from Ms Rice in her Senate statement. Basically she said that the administration had changed its mind.

She acknowledged both the Iraq Study Group by name and pressure from the Congress. "I've had very fruitful discussions," she said


..more at bbc...

I think too many Generals and others are telling them no go...

[pberq]

13. Important news

On the surface it seems positive. Let's hope for the best.

[Felix Mala]

14. Flip-flop alert: Once again Bush/Rice sell their water carriers down the river...

It must be real hard to be a neoconservative nowadays. You give your guy pass after pass after pass after pass and he still rears back and smacks you by supping with the devil. What a waste it is to lose one's mind... All the right wing blogs-o-confusion are strangely silent about this major new strategy in the War of Terror.

[Eugene]

15. AP: Iraq's neighbors agree to Baghdad summit

Iraq's neighbors agree to Baghdad summit

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer

41 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, have agreed to join U.S. and
British representatives at a regional conference here on the Iraqi security crisis, government
officials said Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abawi told The Associated Press that Russia and France were
studying the invitation, but "I don't see any sign they will refuse."

"Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, even the U.S and Britain have informed us they will participate,"
he said, although Tehran has said publicly it has made no decision. Abawi also said China had
agreed to attend.

Abawi said the date would be set within two days. Iraqi state TV said the tentative date was
March 10.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_iraq_us

(BBC News)

Last Updated: Wednesday, 28 February 2007, 17:40 GMT

Iran positive on Iraq conference

Iran says it will take part in a planned security conference in Iraq,
to be attended by the US, if it is "in Iraq's best interests".

Senior Iranian official Ali Larijani said Tehran was reviewing the
proposal but that it supported "solving problems of Iraq by all means".

Iraq's PM Nouri al-Maliki has announced the meeting will be on 10 March.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6404609.stm

[donkeyotay]

16. I hope they duct tape the bush admin's representative's mouth closed

Because they only know one song, "We Can't Talk to You, Until You Agree With Us." The Bush administration has agreed to sit around... and torpedo any progress.