John McCain and Barack Obama have been involved in a fierce back and forth about Obama’s willingness to meet with the Iranian leadership without preconditions. McCain claims that Obama’s willingness to do this shows that he does not have the judgement or the experience to be commander in chief, while Obama argues that McCain’s refusal to sit down with America’s enemies proves that McCain comes from the George W. Bush school of diplomacy.
David Miliband has now waded into this debate. The Times reports that when Miliband met with Obama’s foreign policy team he queried the wisdom of Obama’s proposed approach.
This is fantastic news for the McCain campaign who will be delighted that this news has leaked out. They can now argue that Obama’s idea would so embolden the Iranians and alienate America’s allies that the British Foreign Secretary has had to fly across the Atlantic to warn him off it. It will hugely help them in their efforts to portray Obama as outside the mainstream on this question. If it is not just Bush but the British too who won’t negotiate with the Iranians without preconditions it changes the whole appearance of Obama’s stance. Rather than looking like a refreshing change from Bush, it appears dangerously naive.
Miliband is right on the substance. But his people are playing a dangerous game with this leak. If the McCain campaign repeatedly batters Obama with this point, but the Senator from Illinois still wins in November there could be a certain coldness in relations between the Obama administration and the British government.
Comments