Nixon Sat Down with "Terrorists," Too

In one of the debate's least surprising twists, McCain once again criticized Obama's willingness to engage our enemies in direct diplomacy. The same criticism came from our conservative doppelganger, R Dude. In his words:

Nevertheless, its comforting to think that a "President" Biden would sit down with foreign leaders and talk--leaders that have publicly stated their ill-will towards American ideals--because its definitely clear throughout American history that doctrine(s) of prevention and cooperation have worked well in our past.

With respect, I don't think history supports this criticism. Throughout the Cold War, we engaged in direct diplomacy with enemies espousing the destruction of America and the nuclear weapons to back up the threat. See Kennedy-Khrushchev and Nixon-Mao. For Nixon, this meeting was probably his greatest foreign policy achievement.

How would meeting with leaders in Iran "to deliver a tough, direct message. . . that, if you don't change your behavior, then there will be dire consequences" any different than the actions Kennedy and Nixon took during the Cold War?

And as a matter of policy, ignoring our enemies hasn't yielded dividends. To see why, look no further than North Korea from 2001-2007.

-Law Dude