"It has taken too long"

* the other day i mentioned panicky pletkas thursday article on the iranian election - ftr the guy she was worried about is in the runoff next week - so its worth revisiting her comments in that light:
"And while the Iranian people will view the results with a mixture of resignation and boredom (turnout is unlikely to top 30 percent), Mr. Rafsanjani's rehabilitation will be welcomed in Paris, London, Berlin and, most unfortunately, Washington...
Washington sipped the Rafsanjani Kool-Aid more warily, but so far it has offered no better way forward. President Bush was right to induct Iran into the axis of evil in 2002, but he has yet to come up with a coherent policy. There has been no real outreach to the opposition; no plan to contain Iran's regional designs. The Europeans' game is the only game; and if they like Mr. Rafsanjani, so do we, apparently." LINK
ftr, the turnout was 60+% - thats some pretty bad expectation setting, danielle.

* and wapo friday: "On the eve of Iran's presidential election, President Bush yesterday denounced Tehran's theocracy for manipulating the vote by eliminating candidates and ignoring the "basic requirements" of democracy. Whatever the election's outcome, power will continue to be held by "an unelected few" who are out of step with political changes sweeping the rest of the region, Bush said in a statement released by the White House.
Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (said) "Now is the moment when [Bush] needs to actually give his word meaning," she said. "It has taken too long."" LINK

* and theres this from laura rozen before the election:
"Writing in the NY Times, AEI's Vice President Danielle Pletka argues that while some in Washington are viewing the prospect of a Rafsanjani win in tomorrow's Iranian presidential elections as an opening for a backroom nuclear deal, he represents the worst of the mullahcracy (corruption, terror-sponsorship, loss of human rights) and should continue to be isolated in favor of dissidents. I myself don't sense any quiet excitement here about a Rafsanjani win, and am wondering, who in and around the administration is Rafsanjani cultivating, and via what channels?" LINK
fwiw - i cant make much sense of it either.

* ftr the wapo article which was mainly about blinky, reached into the depths of the rolodex for some balance, and also quoted condi, liz cheney, and pletka. why is the AEI driving the agenda? why is the AEI driving the president?