Dabbling in pacifism...

K: Secretary Rice is finally dabbling in pacifism...and her guru is Bashar al-Assad!

Here's a Syrian spokesman two weeks ago, calling for Israeli-Lebanese talks:

The president hinted that it would not be in Lebanon's interest if it did not have its own talks if Syrian-Israeli talks advanced[...]

And here's Condi one week ago, calling for Israeli-Lebanese talks:

I also told him that the United States believes the time has come to deal with the Chebaa Farms issue[...]

And here's Israel calling for Lebanese talks. Oh, and Olmert's going to meet Assad in Paris in July, for crepes, presumably.

So the same Sec. Rice three weeks ago was on the Dick Cheney, Bloodthirsty Persians tip. Partly this is a matter of tailoring the message to the audience; Rice bellowed bellicose for AIPAC, and -ahem- detumesced for the Lebanese. In theory, rhetorical fireworks can accompany Israel's land-for-peace negotiations with Syria and Lebanon, and the prisoner-exchange negotiations with Hezbollah. The unique aim is to pick allies off of Iran's branch.

But the timing of Bill Kristol and John Bolton's rabies attack doesn't serve that strategic purpose. War fervor is already plenty high: Israel just finished a dry-run for an attack on Natanz, dudes. Nor is this an escalation of rhetoric by people who currently have real jobs. These are dudes with the same security clearance as you and me...

More to the point, Kristol and Bolton aren't responding to similar Iranian bloviations; they're calling out Americans. State just proposed sending an American mission/outpost/charge d'affaires to Iran. Whammo! Like squirrel blood to hammerheads! All the unemployed sharks have to remind us of the "nature of the threat..." They're calling Rice out.

Clearly spooked by the power of language to change "facts on the ground," having just watched the administration's war of words provide Israel cover to bomb Syria, to war-game a Natanz raid, etc., Condoleezza decides it's time to throttle back the warmongering, at last joining Ali Larijani on some calmer-than-you-are shit...

Hope for a cooler summer...and I like to think my prediction was not totally wrong...
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