COOKIES WITH THE DICTATOR (via John Thacker):

U.S. Envoy's Outreach to Sudan Is Criticized as Naive (Stephanie McCrummen, 9/29/09, Washington Post)

[O]bama's special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, ...is pushing toward normalized relations with the only country in the world led by a president indicted on war-crimes charges.

Although Gration describes the approach as pragmatic and driven by a sense of urgency, his critics here and in the United States say it is dangerously, perhaps willfully, naive. During a recent five-day trip to Sudan, Gration heard from southern officials, displaced Darfurians, rebels and others who complained uniformly that he is being manipulated by government officials who talk peace even as they undermine it.

Still, at the end of the visit, Gration maintained a strikingly different perspective. He had seen signs of goodwill from the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, he said, and viewed many of the complaints as understandable yet knee-jerk reactions to a government he trusts is ready to change.

"We've got to think about giving out cookies," said Gration, who was appointed in March. "Kids, countries -- they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement."

W liberates the South from him, the UR sucks up to him....

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 29, 2009 5:42 AM