Today, it is no less clear that the Bush administration intends to threaten military action, as a last resort, against Iran. As Bolton put it, "We're not going to accept an Iran with nuclear weapons. If we can't deal with it at the (U.N. Security Council), we'll deal with it in a different way." But it is far less clear whether the administration has the resources, or whether the American people have the will, to really carry out those threats.

One of our most interesting encounters came at dinner the first evening, when we listened to Dr. Sanam Vakil, Ph.D., a woman from Tehran who now teaches at Johns Hopkins University in Washington. She outlined Ahmadinejad's own predicament, how he can keep the powerful clerics at bay by making outrageous threats (they would never criticize someone who threatens to destroy Israel), and how he can preserve his own popularity with the people by promising to become a nuclear power.

But perhaps the most important reality is that Iranian youths are on the Internet. They are reading and producing blogs. They know what's going on. And, as she put it, "Iranians love Americans. The 'Great Satan' is nothing more than regime rhetoric." Our culture seems to be quite popular.

Vakil suggests the Bush administration try engagement, or, to be more specific, secret diplomacy. Find the right person in the Iranian political mix and find a way to back away from the brink.

Given the never-ending supply of people out there who seem unwilling to govern democratically or act responsibly, that sounds like good advice.

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Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com