Understanding US policy options on Iran

Dan Darling, WindsofChange.net is at it again:

Two articles that should probably be read alongside one another are Jeffrey Bergner's "Least Bad Iran Option in the Weekly Standard and Robin Wright's article in the Washington Post. The former argues that the European policy of engagement with respect to Iran has more or less failed, while the latter states that the US is "close" to joining the European efforts of offering incentives to Iran in return for them making a formal agreement not to develop a nuclear weapon.

I think that the key point in the Wright article is this one:

U.S. officials expect Bush to make a decision soon after Friday's meeting with key cabinet members involved in foreign policy and Vice President Cheney participating by video conference. "There's no timetable," the State Department official said, "but we're looking for a decision."

That would be this Friday, not the previous one. If I had to guess, Wright's sources (senior US officials, officials, US and European officials, a senior State Department official, a senior administration official, a US official, and European officials - all of them anonymous) are likely putting their opinion on how to deal with Iran out there in what think we can all agree is a pretty favorable form in the hopes of influencing that Friday meeting to make sure things swing their way.

Well, let's see how things are going...

• Bergner's Analysis & the "Least Bad Option"
• The Washington Post article on US options for Iran
• Regarding my views and those of Dr. Ledeen ..