Quotes of the Morning: Negotiation

“Ever since 1952, when a Republican senator, Arthur H. Vandenberg, coined the phrase, it has been said that in American foreign affairs, politics should stop at the water’s edge. Now, with President Bush confronting an opposition party in control of Congress, that fiction is becoming harder to maintain.
With a final stop in Lisbon on Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi headed home to a Washington that is still ringing with complaints from senior Bush officials that her stop in Damascus to visit with Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, bolstered the image of Syria at a time when United States policy is to isolate it.
The tone of the complaints — particularly Vice President Dick Cheney’s public characterization of her visit as ‘bad behavior’ — contrasts sharply with the administration’s silence about a similar trip to Damascus a week ago by Republican lawmakers, Representatives Frank R. Wolf of Virginia, Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania and Robert B. Aderholt of Alabama.”
-New York Times, April 6, 2007

“Heck yes Pelosi is wrong. You can’t negotiate with terrorists.”
-Skippy

“Terror must be stopped. No nation can negotiate with terrorists. For there is no way to make peace with those whose only goal is death.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 13, 2004

“See? Fearless Leader agrees. We cannot negotiate, no matter what the circumstances are.”
-Skippy

“Q: He [Osama bin Ladin] seemed to be offering a conditional truce under fair conditions, and seemed to be tying it to a U.S. pullout from Iraq.
McCLELLAN: And as I indicated, clearly, the al Qaeda leaders and the terrorists are on the run. They're under a lot of pressure. We do not negotiate with terrorists. We put them out of business.”
-Press Gaggle with White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, January 19, 2006

“Negotiation is always the wrong answer. You only need to look at the Administration’s fine work to date to see that. I mean, we invaded Iraq without any kind of negotiation, and now everything is going great.”
-Skippy

“Tens of thousands marched through the streets of two Shiite holy cities Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall.
The rally was called for by powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who commands an enormous following among Iraq’s majority Shiites and has close allies in the Shiite-dominated government.
A day earlier, the renegade cleric issued a statement ordering his militiamen to redouble their battle to oust American forces and argued that Iraq’s army and police should join him in defeating ‘your archenemy.’”
-Associated Press, April 9, 2007

“Among the 10 U.S. deaths announced Sunday were three soldiers killed by a roadside bomb while patrolling south of Baghdad; one killed in an attack south of the capital; and two who died of combat wounds sustained north of the capital, in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces. On Saturday, the military said, four U.S. soldiers were killed in an explosion near their vehicle in Diyala.”
-Associated Press, April 9, 2007

“Sure, there are a few people complaining, but you’ll always have that. What is important to understand is that Iraq is free and peaceful now, just like Afghanistan before it, and none of it required any kind of ‘negotiation’ or ‘diplomacy’.”
-Skippy

“Six Canadian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan Sunday when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb, a coalition spokesman said. At least one other soldier was injured.”
-MSNBC, April 8, 2007

“Ok.. Mostly free and peaceful. Still, Afghanistan is a free country now, and they owe it all to driving out the Taliban terrorists rather than giving in to talking to them. I mean, the Taliban is a bunch of monsters…”
-Skippy

“Separately, a purported spokesman for the Taliban said the kidnapped translator for an Italian journalist was beheaded Sunday in southern Afghanistan. The Afghan government confirmed the death.
Ajmal Naqshbandi, a freelance journalist and translator, was kidnapped March 5 in southern Afghanistan along with journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo and a driver, who was beheaded earlier. Mastrogiacomo, who worked for the daily La Repubblica, was released March 19 in a criticized swap for five Taliban militants.”
-Associated Press, April 9, 2007

“The Taliban will kill four Afghan medical personnel and their driver unless the government releases two Taliban commanders, a purported spokesman for the group said Monday.
The threat came a day after the hard-line militia beheaded Ajmal Naqshbandi, an Afghan translator seized last month along with an Italian reporter after authorities refused to repeat the kind of prisoner swap that secured the Italian's freedom.
A spate of abductions has demonstrated the lawlessness of southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban remain strongest, despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops. The kidnappings have also kicked off a debate over the ethics of negotiating with kidnappers.”
-Associated Press, April 9, 2007

“…and negotiating with this kind of group would be wrong, and horribly irresponsible. It makes them look like a legitimate group rather than a terrorist organization, just like Pelosi is doing with Syria, so it would be horribly, terribly wrong.”
-Skippy

“Afghan officials close to Mr. Karzai say concerns about the talks with the Taliban are grossly overblown. For several years, Mr. Karzai, who is from the heavily Pashtun south of the country, has engaged in a delicate effort to lure midlevel and senior Taliban members away from their leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, and bring them back into the political fold.
Afghan intelligence officials have offered to drop or reduce charges against captured Taliban operatives in exchange for information. Senior Taliban warlords have broken ranks with their hard-core movement to work with Mr. Karzai's government in a reconciliation process monitored by American diplomats.”
-Washington Times, April 9, 2007