There is an old saying in diplomatic circles: You don't make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies.
The US, which doesn't lack for enemies these days, is not talking to North Korea, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas -- all of which are contributing to the Bush administration's chief overseas problems these days.
While each situation is different, the administration's underlying position is that Iran, North Korea and Syria must each change their policies and that Hezbollah and Hamas are terrorist groups, legally off-limits to diplomatic discourse.
Critics say this absence of communication restricts US diplomacy and makes US allies anxious because they believe there is no way of resolving crises without American participation.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was one of those helping to shape a far different US foreign policy as national security assistant for president Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s, responded tartly when asked to appraise the Bush administration.
"[President George W.] Bush and [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice are pursuing a remarkably successful policy of self-ostracism," he said. "Unfortunately it is a disaster for the United States."
Madeleine Albright, who was secretary of state for president Bill Clinton in his second term in the 1990s, said "the stakes are too high" to avoid contact with Iran and Syria, whom the State Department for years has designated as sponsors of terrorism.
"Engagement is not appeasement," Albright said. "Diplomacy is a mechanism for the US to send a tough message."
A former career US diplomat in the Middle East, Edward S. Walker, said, "Neither side wants to have a conversation" over the current fighting.
Yet, Walker said in an interview: "The tragedy of this administration is it doesn't know how to use diplomacy. It seems to be actually clueless."
The Bush administration's policies have been criticized by some Republicans, too. In a speech on Friday at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel suggested US support for Israel was coming at the expense of US relations with Muslims and Arabs.
Whether or not Syria and Iran were directly involved in Hezbollah and Hamas aggression toward Israel, Hagel said, "both countries exert influence in the region."
"As we work with our friends and allies to deny Syria and Iran any opportunity to further corrode the situation in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, both Damascus and Tehran must hear from America directly," he said.
fruitless
Bush administration officials say direct negotiations with regimes such as Iran, North Korea and Syria would be fruitless. White House spokesman Tony Snow has specifically ruled out talking to Iran and Syria because they support Hezbollah.
The administration has made its views clear to both governments and "frankly, there is nothing to negotiate," Snow said.
Syria, which with Iran is a pivotal supporter of the Hezbollah guerrillas, has been pursued by successive administrations for more than three decades for Middle East peacemaking. But it has been completely sidelined by the US as the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah rages into its third week.
"The track record stinks," Snow said of past US efforts to negotiate with Syria.
Syria is also close to Hamas, the radical group that controls the Palestinian government and whose fighters kidnapped an Israeli soldier last month, one of the triggers for Israel's incursions into Gaza.
The Syrian ambassador to the US, Imad Moustapha, said his country had not heard from the US. He said Syria would like to start on a comprehensive Middle East peace effort that extends beyond the current fighting in Lebanon.
"Syria does not consider itself an enemy of the United States," Moustapha said.
Iran's nuclear ambitions have been a subject of international concern, but Rice has told Iran there will be no talks on its nuclear program unless it suspends enrichment of uranium.
no relationship
The US has not had relations with Iran since the US embassy in Tehran was overrun by Muslim fundamentalists in 1979. American and Iranian diplomats have participated occasionally in meetings on topics such as Afghanistan.
In the case of North Korea, the Bush administration offered one-on-one talks about Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missiles program -- provided they are held against the backdrop of a six-nation format. North Korea seeks the kind of unqualified direct talks it had with the Clinton administration and has not resumed six-nation negotiations.
The classic example of breaking the ice to talk to a longtime foe was president Richard Nixon's opening to China in the 1970s. It led to normal diplomatic relations and an up-and-down relationship through the years.
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