Mixed Messages

Some would call the Secretary of State's trip to Europe this week a diplomatic mission. I would call it an exercise in frustration. What's she trying to say here?

BRUSSELS, Belgium Feb 9, 2005 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that Iran cannot delay indefinitely accountability for a suspected nuclear weapons program, even as she said NATO should not play policeman to the world.

This has the effect of meaning absolutely nothing. Unless you read between the lines, under the assumption that the US will act unilaterally and NATO is meaningless. Maybe it's that NATO shouldn't play policeman, the US should (and will, if we're to believe Seymour Hersh).

In the next part of Rice's speech, she warned Iran to stop foot-dragging and delaying the end of their nuclear program, while simultaneously saying that the European leaders deserve more time to continue negotiations. Is this like the way Yassir Arafat would say one thing to the US and the world community in English, and something entirely different to his Palestinian supporters, in Arabic?

I guess Rice, unused to the delicate talk of diplomacy, thinks it means that you should simply contradict yourself at all times.