The Iranian Negotiations Hoax

We have been negotiating with the Iranian mullahs ever since the 1979 revolution, participating in countless face-to-face encounters and meetings. The lack of any tangible result is obvious. Ken Pollack, who was involved in many of these efforts, discusses the long, sad history of these failed negotiations in The Persian Puzzle. Those who still dream of the grand bargain must explain to us why there is anything different today that might make a bargain with the Iranians more likely than it has been for the last 28 years. Certainly the Iranians have shown no desire for reconciliation; quite the contrary. The Supreme Leader is the same fanatic as he was then, in terrible health to be sure, but no friendlier towards satanic negotiators. The only big change in Tehran personnel is the president. Instead of Khatami-the-Reformer we've got Ahmadinejad, Hitler's great admirer. I don't think that is an improvement.

The real history of U.S.-Iranian relations suggests very strongly that the only possible winners in such talks will be the mullahs. They will gain more time to organize their war against us, and to build atomic bombs.