BUSH SAYS TALKS WITH IRAN POSSIBLE

In yet another betrayal of those who elected him to be a strong leader, George Bush is going back on his word again:

President Bush said Tuesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might have one-on-one talks with Iranian leaders at an international conference on Iraq next month, but that Tehran's nuclear program would not be on the table. In an interview, Bush initially appeared to rule out any contact with Iran, a member of his "axis of evil."

"What I'm not willing to do is sit down bilaterally with the Iranians," he told PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show." Later, he said Rice and Iran's foreign minister might have bilateral conversations at the conference. "They could. They could," Bush said.

The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran following the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Although there have been periodic diplomatic contacts, the Bush administration has resisted pressure at home and abroad to engage Iran one-on-one in an effort to improve security in neighboring Iraq.

That policy began to change this spring. Although it is not inviting a broad conversation, the administration has repeatedly said it will not rule out sideline talks with either Iran or Syria at the conference May 3-4 at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik. Such contact would follow the model established last month when lower-level State Department officials had cordial discussions with Iranian and Syrian diplomats.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm lacking in an ability for nuanced thinking, but I don't understand how the U.S. could benefit from having talks with a nation whose stated foreign policy is "Death to America."So, what are we going to talk about? The purpose of talking is negotiation and compromise. But, death is an absolute, so there is no compromise involved. Half of death is still death.

America cannot negotiate over its own death, unless our purpose is to set up a trust, I guess.

Of course, many would say, the purpose of the May 3-4 conference in Egypt would be to discuss Iranian policy vis a vis Iraq. But, it is my contention that, as Iran has made it clear that its primary goal is the elimination of the Great Satan, then we must assume that Iran's policy with regards to Iraq would be in accordance with it "Death to America" foreign policy goals.

Now, it is true that a nation can only be hurt in those areas in which it has an interest. Therefore, if we have an interest in Iraq, as it is clear we do since we were willing to go to war there, then we can ascertain that we can be hurt in Iraq. Therefore, Iran can hurt us in Iraq, and as I have said, Iran bares us nothing but the illest of will.

I am really done with George Bush. For God's sake, Hilary looks almost good at this point.