1 Boring Old Man

Rice Insists Cheney Supports Diplomacy for Iran

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that Vice President Cheney fully supports a diplomatic course over Iran’s nuclear program, denying impressions of divisions among President Bush’s foreign-policy advisers.

"The president of the United States has made very clear what our policy is. That policy is supported by all of the members of his cabinet — and by the vice president of the United States," Rice said at a news conference here after talks with Spanish officials. "The president has made clear that we are on a course that is a diplomatic course, but it is a diplomatic course backed up by disincentives for Iran to continue its activities."

Rice was responding to remarks made by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei told BBC Radio that the world risked a war in Iran because of "new crazies who say ‘let’s go and bomb Iran.’ "

Asked who the "new crazies" were, ElBaradei replied: "Those who have extreme views and say the only solution is to impose your will by force."

Cheney, a major advocate of war with Iraq, is regarded as a hawk on Iran and recently made a tough speech denouncing the Islamic Republic from the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. As secretary of state, Rice has had much more freedom in setting the diplomatic course than her predecessor, Colin L. Powell. But Iran has not responded positively to an offer she made a year ago to join negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, leading some conservatives to argue that her approach has only allowed Iran to gain nuclear expertise.

Condi is easy to forget these days. My fantasy is that she’s moving around the globe to avoid being subpoenaed by the Congressional Committees. But as to her comments about being supported by Dick Cheney, tell it to the Marines. They continue to talk like they are a real government with some kind of plan. That’s simply not believable. I think all of them except Cheney are faking it – moving from Talking Point to Talking Point with little else going on. And as for Cheney, he’s nuts. They’ve avoided diplomacy with Iran for six and a half years. When somebody finally came to the table last week, our guy came out with some kind of pseudo-tough talk. I don’t think they know what diplomacy is. I can’t recall a single diplomatic moment from the time Bush took office. They deal with others the same way they deal with us – tell us how they want things to be, and that’s it. We’re stuck with them and have to put up with it for another 598 days. Other people can just walk away…