Quote Originally Posted by goesh View Post
It's just my opinion to disagree with that, nothing more - I'm not claiming or projecting any expertise. What if he had specific and direct questions about security and was expecting an immediate answer? What if he were a Christian or muslim by name only? What if he expected something on the spot, something concrete from the occupiers, like a Hummer painted red for his favorite son and some rifles for his other boys? What if he told the civilian desk jockey designated to meet with him that his status, standing and power rated the respect and dignity accorded by a high ranking Officer of the most powerful military force on the planet that had seen fit to enter his land and remain there? With guys like the hypothetical sheihk, nothing less than a full bird should be meeting with him. To do otherwise would be like two pro football teams having a game and one team sends their water boy out to flip the coin. It would be an insult for a high ranking representative of the occupying force not to meet with such a Sheik.
You're presuming we're sending in a "desk jockey" and not an experienced diplomatic officer, of which, I admit, there are little to none on the ground. What I'm trying to illustrate is that the full bird, even if he has the authority to give the sheik everything he wants, is STILL negotiating from the occupier's position... and I argue that even the tactical gains he may make with the sheik are meaningless in terms of the larger ideological loss demonstrated by images of American soldiers "offering" things of value to "the occupied."

But I see what you're saying in terms of the leader-on-leader interactions.