Iran is Not a Donkey

Zbigniew Brzezinski and retired Lt. General William Odom argue in today's Washington Post that the current U.S. strategy towards Iran "will almost certainly result in an Iran with nuclear weapons."  They write that "such a heavy-handed 'sticks' and 'carrots' policy may work with donkeys but not with serious countries," proposing instead to see if negotiations with Iran could be effective:

Given Iran's stated goals -- a nuclear power capability but not nuclear weapons, as well as an alleged desire to discuss broader U.S.-Iranian security issues -- a realistic policy would exploit this opening to see what it might yield. The United States could indicate that it is prepared to negotiate, either on the basis of no preconditions by either side (though retaining the right to terminate the negotiations if Iran remains unyielding but begins to enrich its uranium beyond levels allowed by the Non-Proliferation Treaty); or to negotiate on the basis of an Iranian willingness to suspend enrichment in return for simultaneous U.S. suspension of major economic and financial sanctions.

The question of how the United States should deal with its adversaries has dominated headlines in recent weeks and should remain on the front burner for the foreseeable future, not least because it represents one of the clearer contrasts between Senator Obama and Senator McCain.