The Kissinger effect on Bush's Iran strategy

The Bush administration’s approach to Iran tracks the advice of a certain secretary of State with Vietnam experience. Can the Kissinger model work?

WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY

By Michael Hirsh Newsweek
Feb. 1, 2007 - He is 83 now, very gray and a bit saggy around the edges. But nearly 40 years after he first convened the Paris Peace Talks, Henry Kissinger is still playing the globe like a three-dimensional chessboard.

Judging from the moves George W. Bush has been making lately, the president appears to be following the old meister’s advice on Iran. Kissinger’s bottom line: don't negotiate with Tehran until you've realigned the forces in the Middle East so that you're negotiating from a position of strength.

Fed up with Iran’s recalcitrance in talks to curb its nuclear program, and reports of Iran’s alleged complicity in attacks inside Iraq, the Bush administration is engaged in diplomacy of truly Kissingerian complexity.

One big difference remains between Bush and Kissinger. The president is unlikely to segue into serious negotiations with either Iran and Syria even if he gets the upper hand. More...

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