Link:

Five former U.S. secretaries of state said Monday the next American administration should talk to Iran, a foe President Bush has generally shunned as part of an "axis of evil."

Engaging Iran is important because Washington's military options against Tehran are unsatisfactory, said the diplomats, who worked for Republican and Democratic administrations.

The five -- Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, James Baker and Henry Kissinger -- all said they favored talking to Iran as part of a strategy to stop Tehran's development of a nuclear weapons program.

"Frankly the military options here are very poor. We don't want to go down that route," said Christopher, who worked for former President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997.

I appreciate the sentiment here, and the fact that Kissinger, current a McCain advisor, is endorsing Obama's policy for Iran, but the reasoning that seems to have led these people here is exactly backwards. Military action is supposed to be a last resort; you don't decide to talk to someone only because your military options are poor.