OH, PLEASE, JOHN – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:   John Kerry must be told by his aides that he's working for a real government, not a student government.  He's invited Iran to participate in a conference on Iraq.  Why?  We should be telling the Iranians not to interfere in Iraq.  From the Jerusalem Post: 

NEW YORK -- Iran is welcome to sit in on a discussion at the United Nations on Friday on counter-terrorism efforts in Iraq, to be chaired by US Secretary of State John Kerry, a senior Obama administration official said on Thursday night.

The official said that Islamic State was a topic of conversation on the sidelines of talks between the US and Iranian delegations in New York, which met for two days privately to negotiate over Iran's nuclear program.

"Any member can attend, and so the meeting was mentioned in our discussions today on the margins," the official said. "The world is focused on the mission that the President of the United States has set out, and that is to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL [Islamic State]. And I think we will all see that in a very powerful way tomorrow at the ministerial, and I believe that Iran thinks that ISIL should not be doing what it is doing either."

The talks will widen over the weekend to include the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany.

Asked whether they expect to participate, the official said the decision is for Iran to make.

So, too, is it the decision of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to meet with US President Barack Obama, while the two men are in New York. The official said Obama remains open to a meeting.

COMMENT:  Wrong moves.  Appeasement once again.  A meeting with the president of the United States should be a prize, not something routinely offered.  The Iranian regime has made mischief in Iraq.  It is not our friend.  It is not being forthcoming in nuclear negotiations.  It does not appear to feel any great pressure from the United States.

There have been stories that Obama believes Iran can eventually be an ally of the United States, and emerge as the most important country in the region.  This is the same Obama who openly said that Recep Erdogan of Turkey was his closest friend in the Mideast.  Obama's judgments in the region have been abysmal, which is why we're in such a desperate situation there today, with American forces going back into action in Iraq.  I don't trust either Obama's nor Kerry's judgment on Iran.

September 19, 2014