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Ambassador James Dobbins - Honest revelations.

James Dobbins, Director of RAND's International Security and Defense
Policy Center, has been making the rounds of think tank discussions on
U.S. Middle East policy. He has credentials and speaks with frankness
and wisdom. Dobbins has been Assistant Secretary of State for Europe
and Ambassador to the European Community. He was the Clinton
Administration's special envoy for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo,
the Bush Administration's first special envoy for Afghanistan and its
representative to the Afghan opposition. Ambassador Dobbins represented
the United States at the December 2001 Bonn Conference where a new
Afghan government was formed. On Dec. 16, 2001, he raised the flag over
the newly reopened US Embassy.

In an August 23 discussion at the New American Foundation in
Washington, D.C., titled: Moral Clarity in The Middle East, Ambassador
Dobbins pulled no punches. His complete report can be listened to at:
http://www.newamerica.net/index.cfm?pg=event&EveID=583.

The ambassador had some honest revelations:

Several nations, including Russia, India and Iran, wanted to overthrow
the Taliban before the U.S. invasion.
The first draft of the Bonn plan for constituting a new Afghanistan
government did not mention democracy. Iran noted this omission and
words on democracy was inserted into the plan for a new Afghan
government.
Iran proposed that the new Afghan government assure its cooperation in
a war against terrorism.
After the Northern Alliance (NA) made unacceptable demands on ministry
positions by demanding 18 of the 24 positions, Iran resolved the
deadlock by convincing the NA to accept only 16 ministers. This act was
the last breakthrough for finalizing the negotiations.
Iran had the most senior delegates at the Afghan meetings.
Iran brought Ismail Khan, a renegade warlord who many thought would not
agree to the negotiations, to the signing of the accords. Iran showed
there was no doubt Khan would agree to the conclusions of the
negotiations.
Iran pledged the staggering sum of $500 million for assistance to
Afghanistan and is meeting its commitment.
Iran was prepared to train a new Afghan Army under U.S. leadership and
make sure loyalty would not be to Iran. U.S. did not follow up on this
suggestion.
Despite Iran's cooperation in forming a new Afghanistan government, six
weeks after the Bonn conference, President Bush made his Axis-of -Evil
speech. Bush also indirectly linked Iran with Iraq and North Korea in
one "axis," although Iran and Iraq were bitter enemies.
The National Security Agency then made provocative statements without
regard to their effect:

The U.S. would not allow peer competition in the Middle East area.
The U.S. would use pre-emptive war, although it always attacked when
and where it wanted.
Other statements:
The U.S. has entered seven nations in ten years - six were Muslim.
The U.S. gave democracy a bad name by associating it with occupation.
The U.S. supported Bosnian Muslims and the Kosovo Liberation Army
despite their involvements with Al-Queda.

The U.S. should return to traditional diplomacy and not use
trans-formational diplomacy. ( Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has
described transformational diplomacy as a shift from diplomats merely
reporting on events to influencing them to foster the growth of
democratic states worldwide.)
Stabilization needs to precede democracy.

If the low-level Civil War in Iraq becomes high-level, expect 500
thousand casualties and 8 million refugees.