The Neocons, Iran & Regime Change

The current tensions surrounding Iran's goals to acquire nuclear technology may have been averted three years ago if some neoconservatives, narrowly focused on regime change, had not blocked diplomatic attempts at talks with the country.

According to Gareth Porter of the Inter Press Service:

The George W. Bush administration failed to enter into negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program in May 2003 because neoconservative zealots who advocated destabilization and regime change were able to block any serious diplomatic engagement with Tehran, according to former administration officials.

The same neoconservative veto power also prevented the administration from adopting any official policy statement on Iran, those same officials say.

Lawrence Wilkerson, then chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, says the failure to adopt a formal Iran policy in 2002-2003 was the result of obstruction by a "secret cabal" of neoconservatives in the administration, led by Vice President Dick Cheney.

"The secret cabal got what it wanted: no negotiations with Tehran," Wilkerson wrote in an e-mail to IPS.
[...]
Opponents of the neoconservative policy line blame Condoleezza Rice, then the National Security Adviser, for the failure of the administration to override the extremists in the administration. The statutory policymaker process on Iran, Wilkerson told IPS in e-mail, was "managed by a national security adviser incapable of standing up to the cabal."

And, who's currently leading the charge against Iran? Condaleezza Rice, who recently stated that Iran "may pose the greatest challenge" to the United States.

Apparently, that's exactly what she wanted Iran to be.