This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Bush Administration will not play the dhimmi for Iran, but it’s a good sign nevertheless — except for the nonsense about democratization, which any schoolchild ought to be able to see is just bringing more mujahedin to power. “Bush adviser dismisses call for talks with Iran,” from the Financial Times, with thanks to JE:
One of the US government’s top advisers has rebuffed European calls for Washington to negotiate directly with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Philip Zelikow, counsellor at the US State Department, also said the Bush administration’s commitment to the democratisation of the Middle East was undimmed, despite the recent victory of Hamas, the militant Islamist group, in Palestinian legislative elections.
“The US position has been that at this time we don’t see value in having direct talks with the Iranians about, say, the nuclear issue,” he said, rejecting calls for such negotiations from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German foreign minister, and other senior European diplomats.