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Setting the Record Straight

Using All of the Diplomatic Tools

posted on 04/18/08

“[G]iven what I’ve said we’re essentially headed for a major conflict with Iran that won’t end nicely so we have to figure out how to defeat Iran. The earlier you defeat them, the earlier you bring the regime down, the less of a cost this war will eventually bring."
–David Wurmser, former Middle East advisor to Vice President Cheney, briefing to the Middle East Forum, “Iran’s Stake in the Levant,” March 6, 2008.

VS.

"The United States must use all of its tools of influence in its foreign policy arsenal—political, diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military—if we are to achieve any level of sustainable stability with Iran. America cannot afford any longer to refuse to consider the strategic choice of direct talks with Iran.“
–Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), New York Review of Books, February 20, 2008