Iran Offered Concessions In 2003; Cheney Said No (Pt. II)

Last month, I did a post on a BBC story that revealed that "Iran offered the US a package of concessions in 2003, but it was rejected" by the Vice President's office. In short, Iran offered to officially renounce its ties to terrorist groups and make its nuclear program more transparent, in exchange for some concessions from the U.S. It might've been the beginning of the end for a hostile relationship between our two nations, but that's Middle East diplomacy (an apparent no-no to Mister Cheney), so we'll never know what might have been.

In a Senate hearing this past week, Secretary Rice played dumb about this.

Newsweek provides a memory refresher... a copy of the actual document sent to the U.S. State Department by Iranian officials in 2003. It's a very interesting read... I recommend reading it (and storing it to memory, Condi!). TPMMuckraker has an analysis.

Opportunity lost and thrown away.

And what's that there? Why, it's Secretary Gates brandishing his not-so-smoking gun on Iran.

[PS- This article'll sober you up: Target Iran: US able to strike in the spring (The Guardian)

UPDATE: More detail, with historical context, via Vanity Fair- here.]