Direct Talks? Maybe, Maybe Not.

The Washington Post has an important story about the ongoing nuclear drama with Iran. The United States has moderated its position on direct talks with the Iranians, and is now saying that talks would be beneficial. How they're going to walk back all the rhetoric about direct talks "legitimizing the regime," I don't know. Of course, the stipulation is that Iran halt all nuclear enrichment activities before final agreement to talks will be given.

I must say, I'm a little embarrassed I didn't think of this Administration tack in my previous post relating to direct talks. Effectively, what us clever Americans have done is to start the negotiation before the negotiation begins! In order to talk to us, the Iranians have to make a key concession, thereby moving the goalposts significantly before the real talks even begin and weakening their hand. Pretty clever, I must say, and something that's only partially directed at derailing talks completely, since the Iranians lose only a sliver of time by assenting. They can easily restart their program if they're unsatisfied with the talks.