Iran apparently has withdrawn its earlier offer to suspend uranium enrichment for an eight-week period to resolve the diplomatic standoff over its nuclear ambitions. They reversed themselves shortly after making the offer:

Iran still refuses to suspend nuclear enrichment before the start of talks on its nuclear program - a key demand by the six nations locked in a diplomatic standoff with the Islamic republic, officials said Tuesday.

Tehran offered over the weekend to suspend enrichment, which can produce fissile material for nuclear warheads, for up to two months. The willingness to consider such a halt was seen as an important opening.

But officials from delegations familiar with the outcome of the weekend's negotiations between Iranian and European negotiators said Tuesday that Iran had also made clear it would not halt enrichment before broader, six-power talks aimed at persuading Iran to agree to a long-term moratorium. They demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging confidential information.

So let's get this straight. They were willing to suspend uranium enrichment for eight weeks in order to boost the negotiations, but they want the negotiations first -- and then might agree to suspend their enrichment efforts? Riiiiiiiiight.

When does the global community realize they're being played? Certainly our own State Department should realize this by now. We know George Bush does. He said as much during his speech last night:

If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons. We are in a war that will set the course for this new century — and determine the destiny of millions across the world.

The mention of nuclear weapons was no accident. Bush knows that the Iranian threaten the stability of the entire region, and that they will use these weapons in one form or another if they manage to create them. The Iranians are not interested in MAD doctrines; they want to annihilate the Israelis and the Americans. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held an entire conference in Teheran this year on precisely this topic.

Nations such as Russia and China have a choice between appeasement and unity. We can avoid another destructive war if we can get the UN Security Council to place effective economic sanctions against the mullahcracy, which will not survive a serious economic downturn in Iran. They need trade to survive. If the Russians and Chinese prove as feckless as ever, they will do more than anyone to guarantee that this conflict will not get resolved through non-violent means ... just as they did with Iraq. (via It Shines For All and The Corner)

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