…made them feel secure enough to crack heads after the election fraud was revealed, says David Ignatius.

One Iranian political figure has told a Western intermediary that the Obama administration may have unwittingly encouraged the regime’s power grab by sending two letters to Khamenei before the June election. The first, delivered through Iran’s mission to the United Nations, was a general invitation to dialogue. Khamenei is said to have taken a month to answer, and then only in vague terms. A second Obama administration letter reiterated U.S. interest in engagement. According to the Iranian political figure, this may have emboldened Khamenei and Ahmadinejad to think they had a free hand on June 12.

(Good analyses by Mike Goldfarb and Jennifer Rubin. Ms. R seems surprised, which surprises me.)

Haven’t we heard this song before?

Ah, crap, just click here. The Putin precedent is exactly on point, the other stuff depressingly analogous.

The worst part? While “this may have emboldened Khamenei and Ahmadinejad to think they had a free hand on June 12,” our subsequent actions proved that they thought correctly.

Lest anyone think this not germane to the observance of the eighth anniversary of September Eleventh, of which the Czar writes so eloquently infra, they should recall (as Goldfarb ominously concludes) the Iranian nuclear program seems to be near consummation and that—as the Volgi never tires of saying—Iran has considered itself at war with us since 1979 (and we, for our own reasons, have chosen to ignore this fact).

Don’t forget to mark your calendar: only fifty-four shopping days until Death to America Day.

Update: Amir Taheri has this great quote:

The more radical view is that Iran should seize the chance provided by Obama’s “strategic retreat.” “The emperor is naked,” says Hassan Abbasi, a theoretician for the Revolutionary Guard. “Obama’s election showed that America has no stomach for a fight.”

Remember: even though it’s not true, it’s what they believe to be true that’s important when gauging their intentions. Read Taheri for some informed speculation on how the Iranians may try and play Obama at the UN.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.