“Convinced that the Iranian government was on the verge of collapse”

In case you missed it…
In 2003, U.S. Spurned Iran’s Offer of Dialogue–Some Officials Lament Lost Opportunity
By Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, June 18, 2006; Page A16
Just after the lightning takeover of Baghdad by U.S. forces three years ago, an unusual two-page document spewed out of a fax machine at the Near East bureau of the State Department. It was a proposal from Iran for a broad dialogue with the United States, and the fax suggested everything was on the table — including full cooperation on nuclear programs, acceptance of Israel and the termination of Iranian support for Palestinian militant groups.
But top Bush administration officials, convinced the Iranian government was on the verge of collapse, belittled the initiative. Instead, they formally complained to the Swiss ambassador who had sent the fax with a cover letter certifying it as a genuine proposal supported by key power centers in Iran, former administration officials said.
DKo: So far the Bush people have found neither WMDs in Iraq nor a Government on the Verge of Collapse in Iran.
This story ran on Page 16 of the Washington Post, in the Houston Chronicle, The People’s Daily, China, and East Day, China, and nowhere else, based on a Google news search I did on a phrase in the text.