The very public engagement adopted with Damascus has offered legitimacy to the Syrian regime while obtaining little in return. The theory is that Syria has much to lose from its continuing isolation. Engaging Syria offers its regime an opportunity to let go of Iran's embrace and rejoin the camp of moderation. Besides, its economy is in steady - some say terminal - decline. Iran can offer little solace on that front - much as the Soviet Union could offer little economic reprieve to Egypt in the early 1970s. So, the parallel goes, President Sadat switched sides and received the economic aid his country desperately needed from the US. Why should Syria not do the same? Engagement will encourage precisely that course of action.

It is a tempting thought, but one that is destined to fail. Syria was never in the moderate camp. Syria's support of Hamas and Hizbollah reflects its continuing commitment to radicalism. And why should it care about its declining economy, given the comparable advantages that come from staying in the game as radicals?

After all, North Korea - one of Syria's best friends - is also an economy in terminal decline. Have the North Koreans changed their ways to "rejoin" the international community? Not an inch. They just make their blackmail more erratic and unpredictable - and thereby milk diplomatic concessions and economic aid. So do the Syrians. Engaging them - especially when leaving their brave dissidents to languish in prison - will not achieve much more.

And so did Ahmadinejad in Geneva - after all, those images of the president with foreign dignitaries who are supposed to be busy isolating Iran cannot but have helped his bid for re-election.

Still, one trusts that even this silly season of engagement, like all seasons, will end, making room for other meanings of engagement - such as that which Webster defines as "a hostile encounter between military forces". Let's hope that when President Obama finally engages the tyrants, it will be clear that all meanings of the word will be on his mind.