Know when to fold 'em

ARTICLE: Iran bullish ahead of nuclear talks, By Kaveh L Afrasiabi, Asia Times Online, Sep 18, 2009

A very well articulated and argued presentation of my current gut feeling on these talks. I sense Team Obama goes through the motions because it knows it has a losing hand.

Of course, the sanctions crowd will argue we've only begun to sanction! But the only time sanctions really work is when observation is near universal, and we know that won't be the cast, even if the "entire" West is on board.

(Via WPR Media Review)

Comments

[rkka]

"A third reason for Iran's relative optimism that it is going into the Istanbul talks with a strong hand is that there is fresh cynicism in the international community on the authenticity of documents regarding Iran's alleged "weaponization studies" in the past. This is in light of ElBaradei's reference to "fabrications" in this regard, as well as his comparison of the Iran nuclear issue with the fiasco of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 "based on fiction" over Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction. "

This is the big point with me. Why is the existence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program taken by many in DC as a point of metaphysical certainty? And aren't many of these folks the same ones who propagandized about Saddam's WMD programs in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq?