Obama’s vision for Iran: Good for foreign relations?
The first of what could potentially be several issues to arise in the general election campaign on Barack Obama’s conceived weakness — foreign policy — was brought to light in Sunday’s Washington Post.
According to the Post:
European officials are increasingly concerned that Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to begin direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program without preconditions could potentially rupture U.S. relations with key European allies early in a potential Obama administration.
Some more key excerpts:
The U.N. Security Council has passed four resolutions demanding that Iran stop enriching uranium, each time highlighting the offer of financial and diplomatic incentives from a European-led coalition if Tehran suspends enrichment, a route to producing fuel for nuclear weapons. But Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has said he would make such suspension a topic for discussion with Iran, rather than a precondition for any negotiations to take place.
***
Although European officials are eager to welcome a U.S. president promising renewed diplomacy and multilateralism after years of tensions with the Bush administration, they feel strongly about continuing on the current path.
***
European officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be seen as interfering with U.S. politics, said the demand that Iran first suspend its uranium enrichment is a European concept, not something forced on them by the Bush administration.
Considering that the promise of a Democrat in the White House post-Bush was supposed to work wonders at repairing America’s perceived weakened ties with foreign allies, this is an interesting piece.