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The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know
Esquire magazine ^ | October 17, 2007 | John H. Richardon

Posted on 10/17/2007 8:07:38 AM PDT by america4vr

In the years after 9/11, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann worked at the highest levels of the Bush administration as Middle East policy experts for the National Security Council. Mann conducted secret negotiations with Iran. Leverett traveled with Colin Powell and advised Condoleezza Rice. They each played crucial roles in formulating policy for the region leading up to the war in Iraq. But when they left the White House, they left with a growing sense of alarm -- not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That was what people didn't realize. It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn't wait for the UN inspectors to leave. The steps have been many and steady and all in the same direction. And now things are getting much worse. We are getting closer and closer to the tripline, they say.

"The hard-liners are upping the pressure on the State Department," says Leverett. "They're basically saying, 'You've been trying to engage Iran for more than a year now and what do you have to show for it? They keep building more centrifuges, they're sending this IED stuff over into Iraq that's killing American soldiers, the human-rights internal political situation has gotten more repressive -- what the hell do you have to show for this engagement strategy?' "

But the engagement strategy was never serious and was designed to fail, they say. Over the last year, Rice has begun saying she would talk to "anybody, anywhere, anytime," but not to the Iranians unless they stopped enriching uranium first. That's not a serious approach to diplomacy, Mann says. Diplomacy is about talking to your enemies. That's how wars are averted.

(Excerpt) Read more at esquire.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: flyntleverett; hillarymann; iran; iraq; jihadists; mahdi; middleeast; tehran; victory; waronterror
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Let us all hope for the best possible outcome. Godspeed and good luck.
1 posted on 10/17/2007 8:07:40 AM PDT by america4vr
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To: america4vr

Just another campaign in the war on terror.


2 posted on 10/17/2007 8:08:39 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: america4vr
The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran That the White House Doesn't Want You to Know

they make it sound like it was a bad thing? Time to open a can of Whoopass!

3 posted on 10/17/2007 8:13:26 AM PDT by Vaquero (" an armed society is a polite society" Heinlein "MOLON LABE!" Leonidas of Sparta)
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To: Vaquero

Whenever I want complete unbiased coverage of the White House, I turn to Esquire.


4 posted on 10/17/2007 8:15:51 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Go Hawks !)
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To: BenLurkin
...not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years.

Duh. This is like being surprised that France was not the ultimate objective of the Normandy invasion.

How many times in the last presidential election did we hear a Dem candidate say Iran was the real threat instead of Iraq? Even they know what's going on.

5 posted on 10/17/2007 8:16:19 AM PDT by BigBobber
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To: america4vr

STFU!!! These loud mouths are going to get us all killed!! Does NO ONE have ANY LOYALTY to the person who gave thema job? They make me sick.....and they sound like anti-SEMITES!


6 posted on 10/17/2007 8:16:45 AM PDT by Suzy Quzy (Hillary '08...Her PHONINESS is REAL!!!)
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To: america4vr

This was the most ridiculous, contradiction-filled, biased article I have read in quite some time.


7 posted on 10/17/2007 8:18:38 AM PDT by snowrip (Liberal? YOU ARE A SOCIALIST WITH NO RATIONAL ARGUMENT.)
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To: Vaquero
You can have one of mine. I bought a case.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)

LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

8 posted on 10/17/2007 8:19:26 AM PDT by LonePalm (Commander and Chef)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

I read Vanity Fair - they have the most unbiased political reporting (sarc)


9 posted on 10/17/2007 8:19:27 AM PDT by xcullen
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To: america4vr
It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn't wait for the UN inspectors to leave

Oh, really. Mind explaining why we sat on our hands for almost ten years then?
10 posted on 10/17/2007 8:20:13 AM PDT by reagan_fanatic (Ron Paul put the cuckoo in my Cocoa Puffs)
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To: america4vr
"History" of a future event?

Let me tell you the history of how I will win the lottery in November.

11 posted on 10/17/2007 8:20:41 AM PDT by Sgt_Schultze
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To: america4vr

Hey, nobody REALLY reads the articles in Esquire.


12 posted on 10/17/2007 8:23:12 AM PDT by kitkat (I refuse to let the DUers chase me off FR.)
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To: xcullen

Until about two years ago, I didn’t know Esquire was still in business.


13 posted on 10/17/2007 8:23:50 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Go Hawks !)
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To: america4vr
Diplomacy is about talking to your enemies. That's how wars are averted.

War is the complete failure of diplomacy. Diplomacy works only when both sides are negotiating in good faith. Iran has no such pretense. They see war as an inevitable outcome and want it hastened. They are religious fanatics that see themselves as the savior of the Islamic faith. They will not stop the enrichment program nor will they allow themselves to be intimidated by the West. It's all a matter of religious fervor to them. The USSR didn't have a death wish nor a built-in persecution complex. You cannot negotiate with a fanatic.................

14 posted on 10/17/2007 8:23:58 AM PDT by Red Badger ( We don't have science, but we have consensus.......)
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To: reagan_fanatic

***It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn’t wait for the UN inspectors to leave***

<<<Oh, really. Mind explaining why we sat on our hands for almost ten years then?<<<

Correct! AND spent fourteen months after 9/11 trying to get the UN to agree that we were attacked and had a right to protect ourselves.


15 posted on 10/17/2007 8:26:52 AM PDT by kitkat (I refuse to let the DUers chase me off FR.)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

(chuckle)


16 posted on 10/17/2007 8:30:29 AM PDT by Badeye (Free Willie!)
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To: Suzy Quzy

Most of the State Dept is Arab lovers.


17 posted on 10/17/2007 8:33:15 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Do you want to be right or successful!)
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To: BenLurkin

Please join me in a prayer to Almighty God for peace or, baring that, for a nice, tight bomb pattern...


18 posted on 10/17/2007 8:33:56 AM PDT by sailor4321
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To: mad_as_he$$

Arab Lovers and America Haters.....BAD combo.


19 posted on 10/17/2007 8:34:57 AM PDT by Suzy Quzy (Hillary '08...Her PHONINESS is REAL!!!)
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To: Red Badger
Two clarifications to your post... it is Iran's leadership that wants war. A large number of Iranian citizens, especially the younger ones, tend to be pro-Western-reform... which is exactly why the older hard-liners have to hurry. In 25 years, their ilk will be an extreme minority.
20 posted on 10/17/2007 8:38:53 AM PDT by Teacher317
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