From his home in exile outside Paris, [on January 27, 1979,] the defiant leader of the Iranian revolution [the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] effectively offered the Carter administration a deal: Iranian military leaders listen to you, he said, but the Iranian people follow my orders.
If President Jimmy Carter could use his influence on the military to clear the way for his takeover, Khomeini suggested, he would calm the nation. Stability could be restored, America's interests and citizens in Iran would be protected. ...
In a first-person message, Khomeini told the White House not to panic at the prospect of losing a strategic ally of 37 years and assured them that he, too, would be a friend.
Of course, President Carter didn't have an outreach speech to the Islamic world under his belt. So, you know, Outreach 2.0 will surely work much better.
What's the expression? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Yeah. That's the one I had in mind.
