But keep your enemies closer

In all the rhetoric coming out of the Bush Administration this week in their attempt to convince Congress and the American people that a military "surge" is the right strategy for "success" in Iraq, did you all notice the list of demands that Condaleeza Rice insisted be met in order for her to meet with her Iranian counterpart? It is, says the Bush Administration, Iran and its described "colony", Syria, that are supplying the insurgents and stoking the fires of the Shiites in Iraq. Either the Iranians basically lay down, roll over and play dead, or we are not going to have anything to do with them. Otherwise, says Rice, we would be like "supplicants".

Of course, we are in this position, because the Bush government has made such a point of not talking to the Iranians through out the deteriorating situation in the Middle East that it may indeed look like only desperation would drive us to the table. But that is just one more blunder to add to the growing Bush blunders in the region. In fact, it was a die-hard Republican, Senator Hagel, not some raging liberal Democrat, who called the administration's handling of the war in Iraq the "nation's biggest blunder since Vietnam". I would argue that this is a bigger blunder, seeing as we had a chance to learn from Vietnam, but didn't. But that's neither here nor there. The issue is, we need to talk to Iran.

We need to talk to Iran. We need to talk to Syria. We need to talk to quite a number of world leaders that we find distasteful, because you know what? They talk to each other. Take for instance the extremist thorn in our side, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, recently sworn in for his third term as president of one of our principal oil suppliers. This week he announced his plans to nationalize CANTV, the nation's largest telecommunications corporation (of which Verizon has a large interest), as well as Electricidad de Caracas and various energy projects, in which numerous U.S. oil companies have a stake. Sure he called President Bush the devil in a speech at the U.N. Sure he has Fidel Castro on speed dial, but guess who's currently visiting with him? No other than Mahomoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran.

From Venezuela, the Iranian president is off to meet with some of our other neighbors, in Nicaragua and Ecuador, both of which have recently elected governments not particularly friendly to the United States. And Chavez has his hands in everything. Recently, two dozen uniformed members of Venezuela's military showed up in Bolivia, much to the chagrin of President Morales' opponents, as the Congress was not consulted prior to the arrival. Violence has erupted this week in that country and more unrest is feared, as Morales encourages large numbers of highland peasants to move to the eastern portion of the country diluting opposition support in the area, which is the center of his opposition.

If the situation in the Middle East is critical to our national security, then surely the situation in our own hemisphere is, as well. And now, linked by oil and mutual dislike of the "American Devil", alliances are forming between the two. But we wouldn't want to look like "supplicants". Of course, saving face is more important than developing a relationship that may give us insight into an enemy. At least that is what the Bush administration would have us believe.

We talked to the Soviet Union. We talked to China. We didn't talk to Cuba. The Soviet Union fell apart. China supplies Wal-Mart. Cuba is Cuba. So much for the poor, deprived masses rising up at the first sign of weakness from its aging President. We had no clue what to expect. Castro's been bed-ridden for months and all goes on as usual on the island. We don't know if he is dying. We don't know much of anything. Why? We don't talk to Cuba.

Sun-Tzu, the famous Chinese Military General and author of "The Art of War" is credited with the saying, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". I personally think he had something there. It might be cool to hang out for some fish and chips in a pub with the Brits, but I don't think it is nearly as important as having some tea with Iranians. Cuba is a small island, whose most famous and dangerous export is the cigar. Ever since the Soviet Union pulled the plug on its nuclear missile program there, we haven't had much to fear from the island but for illegal second-hand smoke.

Iran exports, arms, money, terrorists and oil. It also exports dialogue with unfriendly governments in our hemisphere, including one of our biggest sources of, yes, oil. And now, we have Venezuela itself exporting military advisers to additional neighbors. Do you see what I see? Maybe "supplicants" isn't too far from the truth.