Negotiate With Iran or the Whole of the Middle East Could Burn (Director's Cut)

Edited by The Nation 

Remember how I wrote in the last Director's Cut* that I felt like my last Nation column should have made more of the Qods Force-ordered stand-down of the Hashd militias in Iraq and Syria? It occurred to me afterward that I should write a follow-up addressing that in the context of a more forthright call to negotiate with Iran than the one the column offered. Then I saw the Financial Times and soon after The New York Times reported that there had been diplomatic contact between Washington and Tehran in January – but in the weakest fashion. I took that as an opportunity to address that in The Nation, since that's where the column appeared. If you read this as an addendum to my print column, I wouldn't be mad at that. 

Housekeeping: my intent is for this to be the last edition of FOREVER WARS in March. Events in the world have a tendency to undermine my intentions, but I need to spend the rest of this month writing THE TORTURE AND DELIVERANCE OF MAJID KHAN, working on an as-yet-unannounced project and doing my taxes. As well, at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 29, I'll be at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts to discuss U.S. foreign policy and the 2024 elections. 

OK: paid subscribers only for the rest of this one. Why deny yourself?