Rep. Tim Mahoney praised the Bush Administration's decision to open up diplomatic talks to help stabilize Iraq today. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said the U.S. would hold talks with Iran, Syria, and other neighbors to talk about Iraq's future, something Mahoney said should have been done all along.
"I am pleased that the administration has decided to listen to the wise advice of the Baker-Hamilton Commission, our generals, Congress, and the American people to go back into the region and talk with Iraq's neighbors in an effort to stabilize the country," Mahoney said. "The United States is taking the first step in building the broad regional support needed to win the peace in Iraq."
Mahoney has said diplomacy has been the missing link in the war and has always urged President Bush to do what his father did in the first Gulf war: "go back into the region and talk to Iraq's neighbors."