Triad Trouble

Condi Rice, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin
have met in a Black Sea resort to discuss among
other things Iran and its nuclear programme in
the "light" of recent UN SC sanctions.
All 3 agreed that taking Iran to the UN SC had
been the right thing to do - a very strange opinion
to have when the pursuit of nuclear technology is
an inalienable right for any nation which has
signed the NPT.
Did they mention India, Pakistan or Israel?

They also agreed that the door to talks should
remain open if Iran accepts the EU proposal
put forward last Summer and abandons its
enrichment programme (to which it is entitled,
see above). How magnanimous of them!
What stupefying arrogance, what megalomania!!

This is perfect Newspeak and the fact that nobody
immediately speaks out in a loud voice to correct
such obscenities is desperately sad and a terrible
indictment of the world of politics.
What does Putin gain from playing this game?
Russia has very serious business interests in Iran
and should guard them fiercely and in my view
ought not to go along with all this illegal nonsense
but should veto such resolutions, in order to let
the West know that it needs Russia, and probably
more than Russia needs the West.

Putin did again call for "a resolution of the
nuclear problem using purely diplomatic methods"
in glaring contrast to America which still refuses
to rule any option out.
Compare this with America's insistence that
Hamas must renounce violence if it wishes the
West to talk to it.
Yes, you are right: Nauseating hypocrisy!

And Condi Rice repeated that America considers
Iran "a troublemaker" in Iraq by supporting
insurgents with money and bombs.
If Iran, a direct neighbour of Iraq and as such
with every right both to be alarmed and to be
actively influencing events there, is a trouble-
maker, what words do we use to describe
America's presence in Iraq?
Same nauseating hypocrisy!

She also repeated that Washington is not
interested in talking with Iran and Syria about
the future of Iraq, saying: "If the Iranians and
the Syrians wish to support stability in Iraq,
there are plenty of ways for them to do it.
The only reason to talk to us would be to
extract a price, and that's not diplomacy,
that's extortion".

And she should know - extortion being the most
accurate shorthand for US worldwide diplomacy,
amongst countless examples, refer to the Hamas
case above.