You can engage them. You can isolate them. Or you can attack them.

[Coexist]

Dear VoteVets.org Supporter,

Yesterday, the AP reported that the Bush-Cheney Administration has instituted "sweeping new sanctions against Iran Thursday -- the harshest since the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979 -- charging anew that Tehran supports terrorism in the Middle East, exports missiles and is engaging in a nuclear build up."

There are 3 choices in dealing with Iran. You can engage them. You can isolate them. Or you can attack them.

These sanctions could be part of any of the 3 strategies. The sanctions themselves can only be evaluated within the context of the overall policy. Currently, the administration has chosen a path of isolation with the threat of an attack.

This is the wrong strategy. The Bush-Cheney Administration's failure to use diplomacy in conjunction with these sanctions is unlikely to change Iran's behavior.

Please join VoteVets.org and me. Send a message to President Bush to use diplomacy to deal with Iran. War is not the answer.

http://StopIranWar.com

The AP reported that Condoleezza Rice says Washington remains committed to "a diplomatic solution" and open to negotiations with Iran. Yet the Bush Administration refuses to speak with Iran unless the Iranians pre-emptively surrender their interests. This is not likely to happen, and the Administration will be left with two options: a nuclear Iran or war.

Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) stated yesterday:

"Unilateral sanctions rarely, ever work...I just don't think the unilateral approach and giving war speeches helps the situation. It will just drive the Iranians closer together...It escalates the danger of a military confrontation."

Diplomacy is about carrots and sticks. Unfortunately, the Administration seems to believe it only has sticks. They have continued their saber-rattling, and without diplomacy, the announced sanctions only serve to escalate the tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Tell President Bush it is time to begin direct dialogue without conditions. War with Iran is not the answer.

Send a letter to President Bush. If we want to avoid a military showdown with Iran, we must engage them diplomatically.

http://StopIranWar.com'

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Wes Clark

[Warren Stupidity]

1. False trichotomy.

How about (4): leave them alone? We do not have to do anything about Iran. We should of course normalize relations, but we don't have to do that within the context of some idiotic mission to save the Iranians from themselves, we can simply start treating Iran as just one more nation in a global community of equal nations. We we do have to do is get over ourselves, stop thinking that we are in charge of the world, stop buying into the dangerous myth of American Exceptionalism.

[TwilightGardener]

2. What you're talking about is engaging them, so really, you agree with Wes.

"Engaging" doesn't mean provoking or demanding concessions--it's about finding common interests and working with that.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. That is unclear from Wes's letter.

"Diplomacy is about carrots and sticks." - sounds like there still is some agenda there to change the Iranians and make them do what (some of us) want them to do. We should stop with that nonsense already.

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. Diplomacy involves carrots and sticks in both directions

C'mon, haven't you ever seen two guys get into a fight that they didn't really have to have? We don't live in a perfect world and the U.S. isn't the only nation that enters into conflicts that maybe you or I think should have been settled in a different manner or shouldn't even have existed in the first place. The Iranians want to get America to do some things differently also. Now maybe you think their position is completely reasonable about the changes they want from the U.S., and maybe you think the current American position about changes sought from Iran is totally unreasonable. That is no longer the point if ever it was. Each side wants something from the other and when that happens the tools used to influence events are some combination of carrots and sticks. The current conflict between the U.S. and Iran is moving closer toward military conflict, and real diplomacy is the alternative to that.

[NashVegas]

5. You Isolate Them as Preparation for Attack

Sanctions, if well orchestrated, will hollow out a country's infrastructure (see: Iraq) and make military conquest rather easy and quick.

However, what most traditional militarists fail to understand is that with Democracy has come the concept of public property, for lack of a better term, and ordinary Joe citizens will get in the fight, if they so choose.

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. This is perfect framing to take to the public

Clark didn't write a long letter because long letters are less likely to be read. There is nothing complicated here, Clark makes it very simple and clear as glass to understand:

Three options: A,B,C. Clark explains in a mere handful of words how option A is now being sabotaged by Bush/Cheney (preconditions for talks, all stick/no carrot). Clark uses a Republican's words to underscore the point about where things are destined to end up with the current course.

Then he closes with a policy recommendation boiled down to a mere 16 words:

"It is time to begin direct dialog without conditions. War with Iran is not the answer."

Top to bottom well under 500 words, call to action included. I think this is a f__king brilliant message to do outreach with now.

[haypops]

7. yep

Clark's letter is indeed spot on. It is analogous to his statements on troop levels in Iraq. Wes Clark is a great teacher.