The US has finally engaged in something resembling diplomacy with a Muslim nation! The US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi-Qomi in Baghdad’s Green Zone regarding Iraq’s security. The Bush administration’s policy towards Iran has ranged from disregard to outright hostility. Monday’s meeting marks the first public high-level talks in 27 years.

However, the meeting was mostly a ceremonial show of cooperation as the US was still unwilling to compromise in its attitude towards Iran and the Iraq war. Seemingly displacing all responsibility for the bloodiness of the occupation onto Iran, Crocker said “what we need to see is Iranian action on the ground”. The video below further elaborates on these unproved accusations.

Still, the Iranians were optimistic. Kazemi-Qomi said, “Some problems have been raised and studied and I think this was a positive step … In the political field, the two sides agreed to support and strengthen the Iraqi government, which was another positive item achieved in these talks.” Kazemi-Oomi also said Iran was willing to help train and arm Iraq’s military. Oh, I’m sure Washington will just love that idea.

Crocker said that “the Iranians did not go into any great detail” during the meeting at the home of Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. “They made the assertion that the coalition presence was an occupation and the effort to train the Iraqi security forces had been inadequate to the challenges.”

…Al-Maliki told both sides that Iraqis want a stable country free of foreign forces and regional interference.

He also said that the US-led forces in Iraq were only here to help build up the army and police and the country would not be used as a launching ground for a US attack on its neighbors - a clear reference to Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that future meetings with the US would be possible if Washington were to admit its war and regional policies were not successful. “We are hopeful that Washington’s realistic outlook toward the current issues in Iraq, a confession about its failed policy there and the region as well as an indication of determination to change the policy would guarantee the success of the current talks and possible further negotiations.” Good luck with that Mr. Mottaki.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister hailed the talks as positive, yet “just the beginning of the process.” Iran’s nuclear energy program, which the US is adamant about shutting down, was not discussed. Crocker expects Iran to propose a second meeting in Iraq.

As the meeting concluded, a truck bomb exploded outside one of Baghdad’s most revered shrines, killing at least 19 people and damaging a mosque.

source

Michael Pelletier, a tool from the State Department, can’t answer a straightforward question due to the pro-war hardline policy of our government. Instead, he tries to spin the situation to make Iran look like war-hungry villains when we’re the ones who attacked a non-threatening nation for oil. Luckily, Abbas Adalat is there to inject some facts into the debate. He rightly speculates that this latest meeting is merely a facade to create the appearance that the US wants peace, as Elliot Abrams verified earlier this month.