Conyers:Iran Overtures Ignored by Bush White House

A very good article was written by Gareth Porter in the American Prospect describing how, during the post-9/11 period, Iran lent considerable support to the US efforts in Afghanistan while also extending an olive branch regarding its terrorist connections and pursuit of nuclear weaponry. Unfortunately, the neocons in the Bush Administration spurned these advances by the Iranians and now we find ourselves in a much more perilous and confrontational relationship with this country.

Porter provides an impressive accounting of the amazing list of concessions Iran was willing to make shortly after 9/11 to forge a new relationship with the United States, even after Bush cited the country as part of the axis of evil. However, the Bush White House apparently ignored these advances leading the Iranians to conclude that America was poised to attack Iran after the Iraq invasion.

We now find ourselves in a very difficult position regarding Iran that good diplomacy could have avoided. The Bush Administration has clearly passed on a tremendous opportunity to promote real change in the middle east. Instead they have encouraged Iran to adopt a bolder, more aggressive posture versus the United States. Let's hope that the latest Administration initiative is a genuine attempt to negotiate with the Iranians and not just a lukewarm effort to serve as a prelude to military strikes.

http://www.conyersblog.us/default.htm

Burnt Offering
How a 2003 secret overture from Tehran might have led to a deal on Iran’s nuclear capacity -- if the Bush administration hadn’t rebuffed it.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=11539