In 1975, Henry Kissinger sought to break the ice with Baathist Iraq, the bastion of radicalism in the Middle East at the time, and met with the Iraqi Foreign Minister on the sidelines of a Paris conference. The declassified cable is here.

The Baker-Hamilton Commission seems poised to recommend similar rapprochement with Iran, now. It may be useful 1) to consider how successful Kissinger was (continued terrorism, genocide against the Kurds in Iraq, Iran-Iraq War, etc.); and 2) how willing Washington realists to sell out existing regional democracies for the sake of misguided initiatives.