Collegiate Times

Rome thought the Germanic tribes making incursions in the western region of their empire were thugs and were ignored by the Roman Army. In 476, they captured the master of soldiers and executed him. That year is generally regarded as the year the Roman Empire fell.

In 1773, some settlers were angry about unfair taxation, and threw some tea into the Boston Harbor. The British Parliament passed some new laws and resolutions. By early spring of 1776, these insignificant colonists had chased the British government out of Boston.

In 1930, an Indian man, with no weapons and no army, pleaded with the British Viceroy in India to repeal a tax on salt that was affecting many costal-dwelling Indians. His letter was ignored, so he marched with his followers to the shores of the Arabian Sea to manufacture salt in protest of British taxation. In the following decade, his country would gain its independence from British rule.

The United States needs to take a lesson from the history of superpowers come and gone. That lesson is that no threat is too small and no enemy too insignificant to sit with at the table of peace. Now before my Republican friends accuse me of comparing Islamic terrorists with George Washington and Gandhi, that's not what I'm saying at all. What I am saying is that, historically speaking, when empires and superpowers refuse to bargain with opposing forces, it has not boded well for the more powerful country.

Now before my Democrat friends start telling me how smart I am, we can't just begin negotiating with any organization that blows up a building or takes a hostage; after all, if you give a mouse a cookie…

The United States is currently in a pitiful position to bargain foreign policy with Arab nations. The terrorist organizations and governments that sponsor terrorism (including our "allies" in the region) know that they can be more aggressive because, sans a direct attack on American soil, the American people will not support another military campaign in the region.

It's time we send our envoys to countries like Syria and Iran, not with the intent to put on a good show to give the appearance we are serious about negotiating, but with the real intent of bringing peace to Iraq and the region. The Bush administration needs to set aside its traditional rhetoric of good versus evil, and recognize that these countries exert influence on Iraq. The administration shouldn't be accosting Pelosi for traveling to Syria, it should be sending its own delegation to bring about a solution.

I see countries like Syria and Iran with leaders such as Bashar al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and it seems to me like they have the "small man's complex." They are consistently labeled as corrupt and conniving (which they are) and are ignored by the United States. These countries want attention; they want to be made to feel important. Iran's capture of the British sailors is a perfect example. They were never going to try those sailors or kill them, they just wanted to show the U.K. that they were capable of striking at their forces. Let's recognize their influence in the region and meet with them to discuss the situation in Iraq.

Let's put our pride and cowboy rhetoric aside, and try diplomacy with these people. The world revolves around compromise, so it's time we come to one.