Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Wes Clark school of diplomacy

Umm, this quote from Wesley Clark that was posted at the HuffPo last week is weird, even for Space Cadet Clark. Note in particular the last sentence.

"How can you talk about bombing a country when you won't even talk to them?" said Clark. "It's outrageous. We're the United States of America; we don't do that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the military option is off the table -- but diplomacy is not what Jim Baker says it is. It's not, What will it take for you boys to support us on Iraq? It's sitting down for a couple of days and talking about our families and our hopes, and building relationships."

Yeah! And maybe if our diplomats buy their diplomats a really expensive dinner, they'll put out!

General Clark's form of international diplomacy sounds more like the beginning stages of a relationship between a man and a woman. I hate to be the one to break it to him, but sharing family stories, hopes, and dreams at a negotiating table isn't going to change one very important fact: Part of Iran's hopes and dreams are to develop nuclear weapons with which they can dominate Iraq and a large swath of the Middle East. I'd be interested to know how his personal relationship building changes that fact.

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