Despite being urged by Tony Blair and the Iraq Study Group that talks with Syria and Iran are necessary, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she opposes diplomacy with the two nations even if it would curb the violence in Iraq. “There is no lack of opportunity to talk to the Iranians,” Rice said. “I think the question is, is there anything about Iranian behavior that suggests that they are prepared to contribute to stability in Iraq? And I have to say that at this point, I don’t see it.” Ironically, I haven’t seen much about American behavior to suggest that our country wants stability in Iraq either – a refusal to talk with Iraq’s neighbors being one such case.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that he was ready to talk to the US if there was a change in attitude from Washington. The secretary of state was also hypocritical of Syria, saying it was “causing problems of extraordinary proportions in Lebanon”. She went on to say that she would talk to “anybody, anywhere, any time” given the “right circumstances”. In other words, Condi will only go out of her way to speak with world leaders who praise US foreign policy. Diplomacy is only an option with those nations where diplomacy is not needed. Rice concluded by saying that she did not see any easy solutions to ending the violence in Iraq.

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