Chuck Hagel: “Let’s Talk To Iran”
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy, The War On Terrorism, WarEven though Iran may be giving their (un)official support to the terrorists in Iraq, I still think that this is a good idea. Otherwise, we could be staring into the face of war with another Islamic nation.
From the AP:
In an interview with Reuters during a trip across his home state on Wednesday, Hagel said the United States should greet the new Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a bold diplomatic stroke.“You’ve got a new president, a new opportunity to do something bold here. Why not take that opportunity and do something bold? Iran is going to be a major influence in the future of Iraq. It already is. Who are we kidding when we think that they’re not? They are.”
“I would start engaging with American face-to-face dialogue. We’re not at negotiations yet, but opening that dialogue. This is a process. This needs to work. Every side has to give something here,” said Hagel, who is a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is seen as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2008.
And what does Hagel think about Bush’s tough talk on Iran?
“Quite frankly, what is the military option, what are we talking about here? We lose credibility in the face of the world when we say things like, ‘Well just don’t forget what happened to Iraq could happen to you Iran. We could invade you, we could bomb you.’“Oh come on now. First of all, where are we going to get the troops? Who’s going to go with us? Where are our partners going to be with Iran?”
Meanwhile…
Hagel is saying that Iraq is becoming like Vietnam.
Hmm…is somebody positioning themselves for 2008?
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August 20th, 2005 at 10:41 am
“Hmm…is somebody positioning themselves for 2008?”
Yep.
August 22nd, 2005 at 12:28 am
He may run in 2008, but he won’t get much support from the Republican base.
August 22nd, 2005 at 12:57 am
ArunK,
I don’t think so either, but does that make his statement any less true? I’ve mulled over this for a couple days and I find a lot of these guys are partisan, but they truly believe what they’re saying. Even if you look back at Kerry, you can find a clear line of consistency with what he’s talking about. Sure, the appearance is bad, but Kerry’s logic can be seen as sound if you really dig into the issues. Maintaining consistency is tough because it means you have to ignore the outliers of the argument (and potential supporters), but some are not willing to do that and may suffer as a results of it.
I, for one, hope Hagel doesn’t run for prez because it could mean the vital center is emerging in American politics. At least if you look at recent polls that query people about the Iraq war and its prosecution, you may see a trend.
In any event, thanks for the comment!
August 22nd, 2005 at 12:49 pm
Justin,
“Even if you look back at Kerry, you can find a clear line of consistency with what he’s talking about. Sure, the appearance is bad, but Kerry’s logic can be seen as sound if you really dig into the issues. Maintaining consistency is tough because it means you have to ignore the outliers of the argument (and potential supporters), but some are not willing to do that and may suffer as a results of it.”
I tried but couldn’t come up with a clear line of consistency…. I was never sure which Kerry was going to speak…. How were you????
Making a decision is tough, there are going to be people that are not happy with you either way, but you have to draw the line in the sand and make a dicision…. you have to work with whatever you have available at the time of the dicision.
When Kerry did the “I voted for the 87 million right before I voted against it” he turned himself into a laughing stock. the average American doesn’t follow politics closely enough to understand his position on that one, they are too busy trying to work and raise families. I’m not even sure that I understood that one, I had problems with voting to send troops and then voting against funding for the same troops….
August 22nd, 2005 at 1:09 pm
No doubt this was really, REALLY dumb of Kerry to say. But as you rightly point out, the average American doesn’t want to think about it. If they dug into the issue, they would have understood what he was talking about. I did when I got to the heart of the matter, even though it made me cringe.
Basically, consistently inconsistent wasn’t Kerry’s sin. Consistently nuanced was and will continue to be for many on the left. But let me put it to you this way, if Kerry let one provision change his mind about whether or not to fund the war, then maybe he should take a look at whether a nuanced approach is valid during wartime. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but understand that you may have a tough time becoming the leader of the free world with such an approach.