http://www.newsweek.com/id/165650
EX-BUSH OFFICIAL SAYS McCAIN IS WRONG ON NEGOTIATING WITH IRAN
AND OTHER ADVERSARIES
'AMERICA NEEDS TO SPEND MORE TIME, NOT LESS, TALKING AND LISTENING TO FRIENDS AND FOES ALIKE'
FORMER NO. 3 OFFICIAL IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT, NICHOLAS BURNS, SAYS THE NEXT PRESIDENT NEEDS TO SIT DOWN WITH OUR ENEMIES
New York-Nicholas Burns, former United States under-secretary of state for political affairs, writes in the current issue of Newsweek that John McCain is wrong to attack Barack Obama for his willingness to sit down with America's foes. "As Americans learned all too dramatically on 9/11 and again during the financial crisis this autumn, we inhabit a rapidly integrating planet where dangers can strike at any time and from great distances. And when others-China, India, Brazil-are rising to share power in the world with us, America needs to spend more time, not less, talking and listening to friends and foes alike," he writes in the November 3 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, October 27). Burns believes that one of America's greatest but often-neglected strengths is our diplomatic power, and suggests that the next administration should look for opportunities to talk in Iran, Syria, and eventually even Afghanistan.
"I lived this issue for 27 years as a career diplomat," Burns writes. And "I've been struggling to find the real wisdom and logic in this Republican assault against Obama...Is it really smart to declare that we will never talk to such leaders?" Instead, Burns proposes a diplomatic offensive around the world. "Rather than retreat into isolationism, as we have often done in our history, or go it alone as the unilateralists advocated disastrously in the past decade, we need to commit ourselves to a national strategy of smart engagement with the rest of the world. Simply put, we need all the friends we can get. And we need to think more creatively about how to blunt the power of opponents through smart diplomacy, not just the force of arms."
As the former No. 3 official in the State Department, Burns himself had to contend with a reluctance to deal with unsavory regimes. "To illustrate how far we have isolated ourselves, think about this: I served as the Bush administration's point person on Iran for three years but was never permitted to meet an Iranian." He is clear-eyed about the challenge: "We should constantly remind our adversaries that we have other options, including the possible use of force, if talks fail." But, he says, we are relying too much on our military to solve global problems. Instead, he writes, "we need to trust our ability to outmaneuver dangerous regimes at the negotiating table and in the high court of international public opinion."
# # # (Read essay at www. Newsweek.com)
