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War and Piece — Re: this interesting piece , a friend notes this from Ignatius last week: Administration officials don't want to talk about "carrots and sticks," a favorite Bush formulation that the Iranians disliked. But Obama has the same task of balancing positive and negative elements: The administration wants talks, but if Iran continues to reject Security Council demands for controls on its nuclear program, Obama will seek much tougher sanctions. Obama is working hard to woo Russia as an ally in the diplomatic dance with Iran. When Burns visited Moscow two weeks ago, he brought ...
The secret letter
Belmont Club —
The NYT reports that “President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons.” A senior administration official described the contents of the letter somewhat cryptically, implying that the deal was all or nothing: that if the US undertook to suspend missile defense in Eastern Europe then the Russians would have to make the Iranian threat “go away”. “It’s almost saying to them, put up or shut up,” said a senior administration official. “It’s not that the Russians get to say, ‘We’ll try and therefore you ...
Speaking softly and throwing away any sort of stick
Betsy's Page —
The New York Times reveals that President Obama has offered Russia quite a deal. We would back off deploying missile defense in Eastern Europe if Putin would make an effort to stop Iran from developing nuclear missile capability. The letter to President Dmitri A. Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration officials three weeks ago. It said the United States would not need to proceed with the interceptor system, which has been vehemently opposed by Russia since it was proposed by the Bush administration, if Iran halted any efforts to build nuclear ...
Early Morning Swim: Special RNC Chairman Kissing Rushbo’s Fat Ass Edition
Firedoglake —
That didn't take long.
He gets style points for groveling.
Why not fan the flames?
Appeasement!
Key words (vauge): "level of stablitiy."
Prison nation.
The ...
TPMDC Morning Roundup
TPM Election Central —
... The New York Times reports that the Obama Administration sent a secret letter to the Russian government last month, suggesting that the U.S. could stop development of a missile-defense system if Moscow could get Iran to back off its own nuclear-weapons development. An administration official told the Times: "It's not that the Russians get to say, 'We'll try and therefore you have to suspend.' It says the threat has to go away." ...
President Obama Signals to Russia Missile Defense Shield Can Vanish If Iran Doesn't Get Nukes
Political Punch —
... for a missile defense system, which the Russian government has long opposed, if Russia works with the U.S. to discourage Iran from building nuclear weapons."The letter addressed a broad range of issues including the issue of missile defense as it relates to Iran," the official tells ABC News. "The missile defense deployment is in response to an Iranian threat. If the Iranian threat is removed there is no longer a need for the deployment of the Missile defense system." The letter was first reported by the New York Times . The official insisted that the letter did not offer a ...
Rocket to Russia
Matthew Yglesias —
This seems to me like a welcome dose of realism from the Obama administration:
President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.
The letter to President Dmitri A. Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration officials three weeks ago. It said the United States would not need to proceed with the interceptor system, ...
Tuesday's Mini-Report
Political Animal —
TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * President Obama has an interesting proposal for Russia to consider, trading curtailed missile defense for help with Iran. * The Obama administration is beginning to ...
Brzezinski, Snowcroft to discuss Iran before panel Thurs.
News —
Brzezinski, Snowcroft to discuss Iran before panel Thurs. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced Wednesday that his panel will hold a hearing on Thursday to discuss U.S. relations with Iran. The third part of a series on U.S. relations with the country, the hearing will be titled "U.S. Strategy Regarding Iran." Former National Security Advisors Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Snowcroft will testify at the hearing. The hearing will focus on how the United States should engage Iran. Earlier this week, the committee held a hearing on Iran's nuclear program and regional diplomacy. “President Obama has pledge a new ...
Signs of Progress
Antiwar.com Original —
I suppose progressives and others hopeful for a more rational foreign policy are going to have to be content, for the moment, with crumbs from the presidential table, such as Barack Obama's recent statement ...
Is it Possible to Press the Reset Button on U.S.-Russian Relations?
The Washington Note —
Among the Obama administration's many promised changes to the United States' strategic posture is an intention to "press the reset button" on U.S.-Russian relations.
Many Russia analysts have argued that while a strategic partnership may be impossible, Washington and Moscow have enough mutual interests to develop, in Nikolas Gvosdev's words, "a relationship characterized by a major pragmatic approach to resolving issues and preventing disagreements from flaring up into full-scale crises."
Similarly, Dmitri Simes, Thomas Graham and the Committee on U.S. Policy Toward Russia ...
