Dick Cheney rejected 2003 Iranian olive branch

I'm always appalled to hear the "Axis of Evil" rhetoric that is periodically vomited from the White House in Iran's direction, but this is just simply obstructive. Instead of maintaing their usual polemic - re: "Iran is evil" - the White House had an opportunity to engage with the Iranian regime, to gain more access to their nuclear program, to receive cooperation and support on Iraq and- most importantly- to cut Iranian support for the militants of Hexbollah and Hamas who are such an obstacle to any attempt to forment peace in the middle east.

And the response from Dick Cheney himself:

"Go fuck yourselves."

Who can blame the Iranians for their isolationism when they are faced with this groundless lack of respect for diplomatic protocols and outright racism from figures in the White House who cannot surmount their own petty preudices.

If you were in the position of an Iranian diplomatic representative, would you be interested in following the dictat of international organisations whose policy is strong-armed by the very nation that spouts this offensive rot? This article really betrays the lack of interest in the Bush administration in engaging with potentially hostile regimes on a equal footing. Their attitude seems to be "you are all savages and heathens so we are going to dictate policy and if you don't like it we will tell everyone that you're evil". This sort of playground diplomacy is not only counterproductive, its dangerous!