blogs.wsj.com — In 2004, Gates and former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski co-chaired a task force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations that argued for opening a dialogue with Iran. The task force?s report contended that the lack of American engagement with Iran had harmed American interests, and advocated direct talks with the Iranians.
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eggzbNov 9, 2006
Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote a book called The Grand Chessboard.IMO it was the basis for the Project for the new American Century's doc "Rebuilding America's Defenses".In both of these writings, the authors call for a vast expansion of perm military bases in the Mid East and Central Asia.If you would like to know our Government's foreign policy plans for the future you need to read both.Cliche alert"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
walkerblackwellNov 9, 2006
Gates was one of the key players in the Iran Contra scandal and was also involved with smuggling illegal weapons to Saddam during the Iran-Iraq conflict AT THE SAME TIME. This guy is bad news and we are only going to here more about it soon. He was actually STRUCK DOWN the first time he was up for CIA director nomination.Read your history before you come to judgments. It always helps. Gates has a long friendly history with some very shady characters in the middle-east.
psyopsNov 9, 2006
goal of the US middle east policy: WAR.
snoopy7176Nov 9, 2006
I know...and they are so nice to us over there. Us meanies should just leave those sweet innocent people alone huh?
pabsterNov 9, 2006
You guys are missing the point.Saudi Arabia, Iran ... makes no difference. They're both problems.And to the idiot who said "We still talk to Saudi..." well, jackass, Saudi Arabia's Prince doesn't come out denying the Holocaust and urging for the destruction (read: annihilation) of an entire f**king country.
sanmanNov 10, 2006
Don't forget how badly he screwed over Netscape. That crap about not being able to disable IE from the OS was such a pack of lies.
jonnydobadNov 10, 2006
@somebitches You have obviously never been to the Middle East, let alone Saudi Arabia. Their culture does NOT preach the form of Islam you speak of. Yes, women are oppressed to some degree, but if you actually asked a Saudi woman what she thought of it she wouldn't not agree with you. They do NOT require women to stay home without an escort. Women are allowed to work in Saudi Arabia. Women are NOT required to be completely covered except for their eyes, in fact their hair must be covered and they must wear an Umbayia, covering their face is up to them if they feel that they should (or their husband feels that they should). Yes in Iran women can vote, yet the elected officials in Iran have ZERO POWER. They are figureheads that follow what their religious leaders say, they have no real power.You have ZERO understanding of their culture and IDIOTS LIKE YOU that spout off crap that you don't understand ARE THE PROBLEM with America's poor standing with the public in the Middle East.IRAN IS NOT ARABIAN. IRAN IS SHI'A AND SAUDI IS SUNNI. They have a much different cultural background therefore comparing Iran to Saudi Arabia is like comparing an apple to an orange. Yes they are both countries predominately ruled by Islamic law, that is about the only similarity in their culture. They are from different Islamic sects (Saudi is Sunni, Iran is s**te) so their religious views are obviously going to be different. (Much like Catholics and Mormons, much different ideas behind them although they are both Christians) Their cultural history is much different (Persian versus Arabian). Their founding's are different. Everything is different between the two countries. IRAN IS NOT LIBERAL. They are not a democracy although they do have elections. They are a religious state. They are closer to the Taliban than a democracy (although they hated the Taliban as much, if not more, than America did before 9/11).Quit listening to some rant by other people that have no education on the subject and have never been to these countries and go explore the world yourself. I can't stand to hear such ignorant rants by such ignorant people.
jonnydobadNov 10, 2006
You have more hatred bottled up than Osama Bin Laden. The democrats had their opportunity to fix the Palestinian crisis, but did they? NO! Having a completely democrat controled government is no better than having a completely reublican controled government. The best situation for our government is the current situation, or the situation under Clinton. When there is a struggle between the two parites for power legislation tends to be much more sane and has a check on it by the other side. Although I am not particularly fond of the democrats controlling the purse strings (they tend to be about tax and spend, tax some more and spend). I am happy with a balance between the two parties. Having either party with complete control will result in the same thing as the past few years, a divided country with little consensus building. Having this constant strugle between the two parties forces the two sides to negotiate and build a consensus.My prediction for '08 is either another republican will be president or congress will switch back over to republican control.