Cup o' Greg

Damascus: Detente Talk of the Town; Washington: Same Ol' Crapola - Greg Djerejian

I love how deftly Djerejian is able to take down someone like Liz Cheney. While wrapping it in a call for more realpolitik, Djerejian notes the 'sentimentality' of Cheney's piece in the Washington Post. This is exactly the reason why such people should not have a hand in foreign policy. Sometime you have to make deals with the devil in foreign affairs and sometimes those deals will come back to bite you in the ass. The funding of Bin Laden during the 80s is a notable example but should not detract from the larger point. Dealing with Damascus will not yield the pony some in the administration are still looking for. But it might bring Israel and Syria to the table while slowly nullifying Hezbollah's power in Lebanon. Moreover, it might pull Syria further away from Iran, thus isolating Iran even more. Syria doesn't have quite the same track record that Iran does and the weak leadership in Damascus seems ripe for diplomatic picking. But we'll never know that unless we make some attempt at talking to Syria.