I think that there are differences within both governments. I think there are people in the U.S. government determined to negotiate in bad faith. But I don't think that it is guaranteed that they will have the upper hand.
And I think that there is real evidence of that. I think the 2009 fuel swap deal proposed by the U.S. was real. The fact that it was tentatively agreed by Iran, and that Iran subsequently agreed to a slightly amended version of it, strongly suggests that it was a plausible deal from the Iranian point of view. And the current pushback on the Administration from the AIPAC amen corner in the Senate in the context of press reports that the Administration is working with the P5+1 to prepare a new deal along the lines of the ICG proposal strongly suggests that there is something real at stake. On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 7:51 PM, Michael Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:10:21 -0600 > Robert Naiman <[email protected]> wrote: > >> That's not what people close to the Iranian government seem to think. >> People close to the Iranian government seem to think that there is a >> way out of the confrontation through negotiations. > > I'm sure there are plenty of differences within the Iranian > government. And there are always people who believe you can > solve things through negotiation, and who persist in believing > that their interlocutors are basically reasonable people. The > name Neville Chamberlain comes to mind. > > But when you're dealing with people who are not > negotiating in good faith -- who are masking their real intentions > under a bogus agenda, and who will never be satisfied -- then > negotiations are not a way out. They are a trap. > > Of course I hope I don't have to underscore that as I see it, > the bad-faith negotiators here are the US, and the Israelis > lurking outside the door like a hired assassin who enjoys > his work too much; not the Iranians. > > -- > -- > > Michael J. Smith > [email protected] > > http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org > http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com > http://cars-suck.org > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
