[I can't figure out whether this shows the administration is even crazier than I ever feared -- that they think they could solve the break-up of Iraq problem by immediately overthrowing the government of Iran -- or even stupider and more simple minded than I thought -- that they think you just pick a side and cheer. What a choice of interpretations.]
Entire article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47045-2002Jul22.html
U.S. Halts Overtures To Iran's Khatami
By Glenn Kessler
The Bush administration has abandoned hopes it can work with President Mohammad Khatami and his reformist allies in the Iranian government and is turning its attention to appealing directly to democracy supporters among the Iranian people, administration officials said.
The policy shift, which scuttles a five-year effort in which the United States tried to explore ways to work with Khatami and encourage a reform agenda in Iran, follows an intensive review within the administration over whether to adopt a harder line toward a government President Bush has labeled part of the "axis of evil."
A senior administration official said Bush has concluded with his senior foreign policy advisers that Khatami and his supporters in the government "are too weak, ineffective and not serious about delivering on their promises" to transform Iranian society. Instead, the official said, "we have made a conscious decision to associate with the aspirations of Iranian people. We will not play, if you like, the factional politics of reform versus hard-line."
Bush signaled the change publicly in a strongly worded presidential statement in which he praised large pro-democracy street demonstrations in Iran. The shift cheered foreign policy experts who had urged a tougher approach toward Tehran and was a setback for the State Department, which had spearheaded efforts to engage the Khatami leadership.
Bush approved the statement earlier this month after pro-democracy protesters and Iranian security forces clashed at the demonstrations, and a top Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, resigned his post to denounce what he called the "incompetence of the authorities and the failure of the political structure."
Although virtually unnoticed in the United States when issued July 12, Bush's statement spawned fierce complaints from Iranian officials and resulted in government efforts to organize anti-U.S. demonstrations in Tehran last week, criticizing Bush for interfering in Iran's internal affairs.
The Bush administration broadcast its support to the Iranian demonstrators through the Voice of America, which carried reports on Bush's statement. Zalmay M. Khalilzad, a senior director at the National Security Council responsible for Iranian policy, gave a television interview in Farsi on Friday promoting the policy. The interview was beamed into Iran via VOA.
Rest at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47045-2002Jul22.html