Matt Yglesias

27 Responses to “Good News, I Guess”

1. right Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 8:26 am

   this quote from the linked article is great:

   Mr. Powell and Mr. Kharrazi did not hold a formal session. But the Egyptian hosts of the meeting made the two talk to each other, by seating them side-by-side at dinner. Afterward, an annoyed Mr. Powell said that he and Mr. Kharrazi stuck to polite diplomatic chitchat, discussing subjects like reconstruction after the earthquake in Bam, Iran, and avoiding sensitive topics like the disagreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

   can you say awkward?

2. Nick Kasoff - The Thug Report Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 8:27 am

   Ok, they are meeting. So what will it accomplish? So long as Iran is developing nuclear weapons, training terrorists, and exporting anti-western radicalism, diplomacy seems of little import. Does anyone think these meetings will cause Iran to budge?

   Nick Kasoff
   The Thug Report

3. James Robertson Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 9:17 am

   What Matt doesn’t get is that diplomacy requires carrots and sticks – neither Iran nor Syria are going to deal with us in a useful way unless there’s some level of threat that they care about. With more rational states, sticks can be things like tariffs (i.e., trade dealings with Canada, the EU, etc). With less rational states, tariffs and sanctions just don’t cut it – the governments of those nations are more than willing to let their people suffer if they have to.

   Before you bring up North Korea, I’ll point out that China was involved in this round – and China has a very strong incentive to not want war on the Korean peninsula – they don’t want radioactivity floating their way, nor do they want a stream of starving North Korean refugees. Any sticks applied to N.K. probably came from China, not the US.

4. shocked Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 9:23 am

   I notice the talks would include Rice and her Syrian counterpart.
   It would be interesting to see how this squared with the recent reports (in Haaretz, if I recall) about Rice putting her foot down on the possibility of Israel reaching out to Syria.

5. shocked Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 9:31 am

   One also shouldn’t underestimate the capacity of Bush and Cheney to shut Rice out of the major decision-making. If she’s being played to provide some usefully energetic diplomatic cover, this could be an Iraq-style “softening” as a prelude to war.

   The alternative — that the whole ‘Iran supplying explosives to elements in Iraq’ thing was drummed up to provide an excuse for diplomacy — just doesn’t square with the current whitehouse crowd. One, it leads to peace, and that will make Cheney screw up his face. Two, it’s just too … subtle.

   Sorry, I don’t buy it. Give it a week before someone leaks some info exposing this for the shell game it is.

6. rea Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 9:39 am

   “So long as Iran is developing nuclear weapons, training terrorists, and exporting anti-western radicalism, diplomacy seems of little import. Does anyone think these meetings will cause Iran to budge”

   Absolutely right–and as long as the US jeeps developing nuclear weapons, training terrorists, and exporting anti-Islamic radicalism, why should anyone talk to us?

   Hell, I’m not so sure we ought to be talking to ourselves . . .

7. Glen Tomkins Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pm

   Don’t get your hopes up

   The administration only agreed to participate in these talks so that our Spec Ops guys can kidnap the Iranian and Syrian delegations.

8. SqueakyRat Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

   The meeting that Powell attended was in 2004. A bit odd to find a reference to it here.

9. daveNYC Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 9:29 pm

   [i]With less rational states…[/i]

   The implication being that Iran is less than rational? Irrational like a fox maybe.

10. xanax Says:
    February 21st, 2009 at 4:31 am

    Good info Good job guys! Tramadol

11. viagra Says:
    March 11th, 2009 at 4:35 am

    It is the coolest site,keep so!

12. zyban Says:
    March 12th, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!

13. xanax Says:
    March 14th, 2009 at 5:15 am

    I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!
    xanax

14. tramadol Says:
    March 17th, 2009 at 2:24 am

    If you have to do it, you might as well do it right
    tramadol

15. tramadol Says:
    March 22nd, 2009 at 6:10 am

    tramadol
    I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!

16. GOODSON Says:
    March 28th, 2009 at 4:31 am

    what is the best cheap web host?

17. brand viagra Says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 am

    If you have to do it, you might as well do it right
    buy cheap viagra

18. viagra brand Says:
    April 3rd, 2009 at 4:09 am

    Great site. Good info
    cheap brand pfizer viagra

19. Shaarangapanaye Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 11:47 am

    There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also.

20. Pitambharadharaya Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 11:47 am

    Great articles & Nice a site