Sadly, one has to wonder whether in fact such suspicions may not be partially justified. How else to explain the current U.S. "negotiating" stance: the United States is refusing to participate in the on-going negotiations with Iran but insists on dealing only through proxies. That stands in sharp contrast with the simultaneous negotiations with North Korea, in which the United States is actively engaged.

At the same time, the United States is allocating funds for the destabilization of the Iranian regime and is reportedly injecting Special Forces teams into Iran to stir up non-Iranian ethnic minorities in order to fragment the Iranian state (in the name of democratization!). And there are people in the Bush administration who do not wish any negotiated solution, abetted by outside drum-beaters for military action and egged on by full-page ads hyping the Iranian threat.

This is from Zbigniew Brzezinski, who will now be shouted down by the right as some sort of appeasenik. Very little could be farther from the truth. This is the son of a Polish diplomat who was present for Stalin's purges and Hitler's rise to power and was lucky enough to have been in Canada with the Polish mission when World War II broke out, and has as good an understanding of foreign affairs as anyone in this country. When he says "bad idea," take it to the bank.

Do not attack Iran - International Herald Tribune