Officials in US President George W. Bush’s administration turned down a 2003 Iranian offer to begin talks with the US, recognize Israel, and end support of Palestinian terror organizations, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Of course, this was under Iran’s former reformist president. And the talks may not have gotten anywhere. But I’m surprised the administration let go of an opportunity to show that invading Iraq and Afghanistan worked. “Invading one of the Axis of Evil forces other to the negotiating table.” Great headlines. Unfortunately, all we did was undermine the reformists. Bummer.

US rejected Iranian overtures in 2003 | Jerusalem Post

Finally, there are programs like Kiva.org, which I have already blogged about, that allow you to directly support entrepreneurs with microloans.