US ‘olive branches’ aren’t what they seem
Linda Heard; 22/7/08
Opening the newspaper last week turned out to be a surreal experience. One day “the Great Satan” and the poster country for the “Axis of Evil” were daggers drawn as per usual and the next day US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had turned into a female version of Nelson Mandela (apologies to Mandela): All forgiveness and reconciliation. Not only was the State Department publicly mulling over whether to open a special interests section or even a US mission in Tehran for the first time since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, an almost cuddly official William Burns was dispatched to Geneva for face-to-face talks with his Iranian counterparts. Curious, to say the least! Just in case we haven’t slipped into some kind of parallel universe while we were sleeping what on earth is going on? The chronically naïve might be tempted to believe that Washington has packed away its sabers and shrouded its deadly toys with dust covers…at least for now.
See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=112034&d=22&m=7&y=2008