Yesterday Rolling Stone released a devastating summary of Bush's failures, which has received well-deserved attention here. It was a good compendium -- but it's already out of date. Events proving the seismic magnitude of this newly revealed failure have not yet played out, but the fundamental dishonesty of the Adminstration's claims of willingness to try diplomacy with Iran is now indisputable.
Kevin Drum connects the dots on a huge story that puts WPE's "
we want to solve this issue diplomatically" onto the same scrap heap where we find the identical claptrap they once spouted about war as a last resort with Iraq.
Turns out that Iran made diplomatic overtures to us in 2003:
(In a message conveyed via the Swiss Embassy,) the Iranian Foreign Ministry sent Washington a detailed proposal for comprehensive negotiations to resolve bilateral differences. The document acknowledged that Iran would have to address concerns about its weapons programs and support for anti-Israeli terrorist organizations. It was presented as having support from all major players in Iran's power structure, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
And how did our blessed peacemakers
respond?
Realists, led by Powell and his Deputy Richard Armitage, were inclined to respond positively to the Iranian offer. Nevertheless, within a few days of its receipt, the State Department had rebuked the Swiss ambassador for having passed on the offer.
Put that together with
Sy Hersh's article (and my
column), and war starts looking, to coin a phrase, like a slam dunk.
This is a huge story, and the Administration simply must be made to address these charges. If this story breaks into the mainstream, maybe we can force these punch-drunk madmen to back away from the precipice.