Opinion (Juan Cole): See TALKS

The Iraq Study Group

In its report released last week, the Iraq Study Group strongly urged the Bush administration to negotiate with Syria and Iran as a way of resolving the crisis in Iraq. The commission headed by James A. Baker III and Lee Hamilton urged an immediate diplomatic offensive, the organization of a regional conference and the inclusion of Tehran and Damascus in these efforts.

But can George W. Bush swallow his pride and reach out to what is left of the axis of evil? And even if he did, would Syria and Iran see any advantage to such a new relationship with Washington?

The neo-conservatives had envisaged the invasion of Iraq as a first step toward the overthrow of the governments of Syria and Iran. In 2003, the hawks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., joked that everyone wanted to go to Iraq, but real men wanted to go to Iran.

Read the rest at the San Jose Mercury News