The drumbeat of the McCain campaign about "talking with the enemy without preconditions" has been pretty broadly rejected as a foreign relations strategy by most of the experienced U.S. diplomats and foreign relations experts. The McCain campaign mantra makes it sound good to the uninformed public. But unfortunately, that approach has consistently proven unproductive, even dangerous, to the U.S. over the years. And often, even the odd American administration that follows that tactic often has to quietly reverse itself in prder to make any progress in foreign relations.

Maybe the best current example is George Bush, who not ony refused to meet or negotiate with North Korea, but called North Korea President Kim Jong Il a "pymgy" and that he "loathed the man". With that approach, North Korea continued with its nuclear program and even launch an interballistic missle that could reach the west coast of the U.S. The U.S. was unable to get other countries to join us in pressuring North Korea using economic and political pressure.

Senior State Department officials as well as many foreign heads of state pressured Bush to reverse his policy and permit negotiations to commence with North Korea. This happened quietly--secretly in fact--in late 2006 when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill initiated multi-party negotiations with North Korea. Significant progress was made and North Korea agreed to stop its nuclear program only a month or so ago. In fact, North Korea has now been officially taken off the U.S. State Department's list of countries that are state sponsors of terrorism.

If you want to back a little further, it was secret negotiations between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that resulted in the end of the Cold War.

Campaign rhetoric is designed to agitate the electorate, but very often is not the way the most progress in foreign relations is accomplished. Unfortunately, that's true of the McCain campaign claims today.

By the way, Bucco, Barack Obama has never taken the military option off the table. In fact, if you recall, he has said that he would order military action inside Pakistan if the Pakistanis couldn't or wouldn't take the necessary action against al Quaeda or the Taliban hiding along the Pakiistan-Afghanistan border. What he hasn't taken off the table--unlike John McCain--is the parallel strategy of negotiating to achieve our objectives. Where do you get this stuff that Obama won't use the military option? Maybe it offends backers of former fighter pilot McCain that Obama won't pull the trigger first without having any prior discusasions to accomplish our objectives without the use of military action.