I am stunned as I read this in the Houston Chronicle this morning. An article by Glenn Kessler of the Washing Post reveals that the State Dept. received a proposal from Iran in the days immediately following the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Our soldiers were so effective in destoying Iraq' military might, Iran was ready to deal on its nuclear program, the recognition of Isreal, and a whole host of other issues. But of course the Bush administration ignored it.
At that time we were clearly dealing from a position of strength. But we squandered an opportunity because the Bush adminstration's intelligence believed that the Iran government was about to collapse.
A senior director on the National Security Council who saw the proposal stated, "[A]t the time, the Iranians were not spinning centrifuges, they were not enriching uranium."
This is a failure on so many levels; faulty intelligence about the Iranian government's imminent collapse, failure of diplomacy, an just plain ordinary failure of reason.
More proof that this County needs leaders that will commit to the American people that the we will be ready to resist with force, if force is used on us. But, we will at all times be ready to talk, if talk will help. Soviet American Speach, Pres. Kennedy, 1961.