A Washington (!) Idea for Real Change: Talk to Tehran

If you are sick of politicians who offer arrogant bluster or vacuous promises, read this hard-hitting, precise, forward-looking article by Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein in the San Francisco Chronicle. Key points:

If you want to see why our nation's policy on Iran has failed, look no
further than a revealing episode at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland.

White House officials reportedly were "angered" that our ambassador
to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, sat next to the Iranian foreign
minister on a panel at the forum. He did not have a separate meeting or
conversation or handshake with the foreign minister. He just sat next to him.

I could not believe my eyes when I read that. It should be a
tip-off to the American public that there are key Bush administration officials
who do not want to engage in diplomacy with Iran on any terms - with
preconditions or without - let alone find solutions to some of the
long-simmering issues....

...now is the moment for a bold U.S. diplomatic move to begin direct
official talks with Iranian officials. And I believe the Bush administration's
insistence that we wait until Iran suspends its enrichment program is
counterproductive. This policy has given Iran incentives to increase its
enrichment capacity under ever more hostile conditions.

Now that is a policy for an American approach to the world of which we can be proud, an initiative to make the world a more secure place...an initiative for genuine change.

Maybe Dianne Feinstein should be the Democratic candidate for president...