Stephen Kinzer at the Daily Beast, calls for a reset of the US-Iran and US-Israel relationships after going to a dinner with Ahmadinejad in New York. I don’t think he dares to suggest why there is so much “emotion” here on the U.S. part, that is to say he does not lay out the power of the Israel lobby (h/t Chris Varley):
Together the U.S. and Iran might accomplish more in the Middle East than any pair of countries possibly could- starting with cooperation to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan . They are so caught up in emotion, however, that they insist on remaining enemies and refuse to take steps that would benefit both.
Because the specialists who spent last evening with Ahmadinejad see this crazy reality, the dining room was filled with an intense and almost palpable sense of frustration….
Given both the urgency of the mounting U.S.-Iran crisis and the benefits that could accrue from trying to resolve it, logic might dictate that American diplomats would be taking advantage of Ahmadinejad’s stay in New York ….
After a couple of hours answering questions, Ahmadinejad thanked his guests and slipped out into the night. Lamentably, no American diplomats pursued him…. There are 30 years of missed opportunities between the U.S. and Iran . This was another one.
