in defense of nuance

We’ve been hearing a lot of empty but heated rhetoric from Obama and McCain on Iran. Now, listen to the words of a consummate diplomat and expert political operator—SecDef Robert Gates [e.a.]:

The top uniformed US military officer told Congress Tuesday that Iran is directly jeopardizing peace in Iraq, prompting fresh calls from senators that the US pursue diplomatic talks with Teheran. …

Gates said he supports sitting down with officials from Teheran, but only after the US has developed significant leverage. In such cases as Libya and North Korea, these countries were seeking to relieve economic pressures imposed by sanctions, Gates said.

“The key here is developing leverage, either through economic or diplomatic or military pressures on the Iranian government so they believe they must have talks with the United States because there is something they want from us, and that is the relief of the pressure,” Gates said.

See how easy it is to demand preconditions while sounding reasonable? Obama should pay attention.