Anyone else see the irony in this? As Stephen Colbert so aptly put it, "He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday." No diplomacy, just cowboy swagger. How far has this taken us in protecting our interests in the Middle East already, Mr. Burns?
A second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group now steaming toward the Middle East is Washington's way of warning Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region, a top U.S. diplomat said here Tuesday.
Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, ruled out direct negotiations with Iran and said a rapprochement between Washington and Tehran was "not possible" until Iran halts uranium enrichment.
"The Middle East isn't a region to be dominated by Iran. The Gulf isn't a body of water to be controlled by Iran. That's why we've seen the United States station two carrier battle groups in the region," Burns said in an address to the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, an influential think-tank.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement"Iran is going to have to understand that the United States will protect its interests if Iran seeks to confront us," Burns continued.
Keith Olbermann asks the question that we should all be asking right now: Where's the evidence on Iran?
(thanks to Silent Patriot for vids)