I think it’s a mistake for conservatives to get caught up in an abstract opposition to talking to our enemies in principle (which is a different question than whether it makes sense–it doesn’t–for the president to jet to Tehran without pre-conditions). Consider: Part of the success of the surge is that we were talking to Sunni tribesmen and former Saddamists who were doing terrible things in Iraq. When conditions were right (they got sick of al Qaeda, the Shia were killing them, we were there in force), we flipped them. Would anyone now have it any other way?