Today's Los Angeles Times reports:
The former secretary of State, who was a longtime aide to former President George H.W. Bush, also said he favored reaching out to Iran and Syria. "I personally believe in talking to your enemies," [Secretary James Baker] said. "Neither the Syrians nor the Iranians want a chaotic Iraq … so maybe there is some potential for getting something other than opposition from those countries."
But what do we do in the face of continued Iranian defiance over its nuclear program? Engagement hasn't worked so far, and I suspect Tehran will demand that in exchange for its "cooperation" in Iraq we must stop pushing for punitive action against them and end our support for democrats inside in Iran. It will be interesting to see if the Baker-Hamilton Iraq commission discusses any of this.