He's so far from the mainstream, it's a wonder he hasn't died of thirst. The US approach in Iran has far more to do with shoring up our relationship with Euro moderates than any true hope of convincing the muslim radicals. After being backstabbed and sabotaged in our efforts in Iraq, we have been constrained to let the "negotiator" approach fail miserably before we can rally another coalition. Thanks to A-holes just like Pat.
The point stands. Bush is negotiating with Islamists in Iraq. We can disagree about the motivation but that is a cold hard fact. Interestingly, Bush receives very little criticism here for doing this. Double standard perhaps?