Response to article #10 : The pluses of a regional grand bargain

This article helped me on the Iran field. I now know what Iran is likely to do and how it is vital to return to speaking conditions with them. Becoming allies with Iran will make the American withdrawal from Iraq easier, and cool down the conflict in Afghanistan. Personally, I agree completely with this article. I now need to find more articles like this concerning Iraq, Palestine, and all the other countries in the Middle East.

Article # 10: The pluses of a regional grand bargain

- The Obama administration has declared a peace process concerning Afghanistan and Pakistan and re-establishing communication with Syria and Iran.

-Obama is considering speaking with some of the Taliban in Afghanistan to wind down the war there.

- Washington and Tehran have not talked in a sustained way for 30 years.

- The list of things the US and the West do not know about Iran is long

- Iran will settle for a deal on its nuclear enrichment capabilities; whether it wants a nuclear bomb

- Iran has already achieved its important first goal, despite intense American-led threats, warnings and sanctions.

- It has established a spinning-centrifuge-based system for enriching uranium. Now confronted with the Obama approach of talking rather than only sanctioning, the Iranians now face many new possibilities.

-Iran (like Syria on a smaller scale) is strategically placed to both talk and work on many fronts. It has communications withI raq, Afghanistan, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas. This provides opportunities for the US.

- Iranian leadership has fear of bargaining with the US, because of the tension between Washington and Tehran.

- Achieving a grand bargain is complex.

- A grand bargain on Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Arab-Israeli peacemaking would require satisfying needs for all sides.