US Will Join Talks With Iran and Syria

By Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer
February 28, 2007

In a surprising move for a administration known to opt out of international talks – especially with countries that Bush has labeled “axis of evil” – the US announced yesterday that they would in fact join a roundtable discussion of sorts with Iraq, Syria, Iran and other regional countries. Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State called it an “opportunity to improve the relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region.” This is the first true realization of the progress of the Iraq Study Group, whose December results went largely ignored by Bush. It noted the importance of these type of meetings to start a face-to-face negotiation of issues. “Better late than never,” said Leon Panetta, who served on the study group. The first meeting will be in April, and is second will likely be held later in Istanbul. I couldn’t agree more with the study group and ther Democrats who have realized that these talks were long overdue. As Sen. Joseph Biden put it, both Iran and Syria are a big part of the problem right now, but they also have an overriding interest in beeoming part of the solution to prevent chaos in Iraq. However, with the Democrats threatening to shut down a $100 billion spending bill for Iraq, this could only be a ploy by the administration to gain positive reaction. The first talks will be at an Ambassador level, however, I really feel that each country should have a solid, yet independent, contingent to join the talks, so as to not stall them out on arrival.