Left I on the News

The Guardian reports:

Officials of Barack Obama's administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks, the Guardian has learned.

The US state department has been working on drafts of the letter since Obama was elected on 4 November last year. It is in reply to a lengthy letter of congratulations sent by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on 6 November.
...
State department officials have composed at least three drafts of the letter, which gives assurances that Washington does not want to overthrow the Islamic regime, but merely seeks a change in its behaviour. The letter would be addressed to the Iranian people and sent directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or released as an open letter.

You know, if the U.S. really wanted better relations with Iran, they wouldn't need to work on the draft of a letter for three months (!). Nor would the President be talking about Iran's "clenched fist," considering that Iran has not made a single threat against the U.S. (or anyone else), whereas there has been an abundance of threats (not to mention ongoing economic warfare) directed against Iran. Nor would they be replying to a letter from President Ahmadinejad by sending a reply to everyone but Ahmadinejad.

Obama is, readers no doubt remember, the candidate who claimed he would talk to Iran "without preconditions." Pretty hard to believe, considering he hasn't even been able to send a reply to a letter of congratulations on his election for three months.

Update: And speaking of that "clenched fist":

American military force against Iran remains an option, though it would be a "last resort," US Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in response to a question from The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.

That quaint notion that you only get to apply force when attacked? People like Mullen (and Bush and Obama) don't think for a second that it applies to the United States.