How long will Obama pursue Assad?
But it seems that no amount of Syrian spit in our eyes will dissuade the engagers. Rather than admit they were wrong in the first place, defenders of the accommodationist approach have spun Iran’s rejection of American overtures into a diplomatic victory. At least the United States tried to talk the Iranians out of their madness, they say. Now, with a series of good-faith efforts rejected, America can more credibly present the case of isolating Iran to the world.
This rosy narrative - which will no doubt inform the logic of Syria-engagers over the course of the next year or more - obfuscates the fact that Washington, including the allegedly "unilateralist" Bush administration, has tried for years to persuade Iran and Syria to adopt the most basic characteristics of good international citizens, all to no avail. And concomitant attempts to "split" Damascus from Tehran are as fruitless as they are frequent.
At some point, we must realize that the behavior of these regimes is due to deep ideological impulses and an instinct for self-preservation. All that the failed attempts at wooing Iran have done was waste an entire year that could have been devoted to sanctioning and weakening the regime from within. Today, we’re 12 months closer to the point where Iran has nuclear weapons. And now we are repeating the same mistakes with Syria.
Israel Matzav: How long will Obama pursue Assad?
1 comment:
Everything Obama learned about diplomacy he learned in kindergarten and it is us, the Americans who are paying for him not learing good lessons in the childhood. Hope his putting America on the path of "set a good example and others will follow" philosphy works!
Cynthia
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