During the 2008 election, much was said over the position taken by then candidate Obama that he was willing to meet with the Iranians without any preconditions to discuss their nuclear program. Indeed, once Obama took office, he again offered to meet and tried to "play nice" with the Iranians. Perhaps the most important of these attempts came when a major protest movement broke out in Iran after the mullahs rigged the last presidential election so that their candidate won re-election. Despite literally millions of Iranians protesting, Obama did nothing and also said nothing that might indicate American support for the democracy movement. The Iranian secret police and military stopped the protests with some rather brutal tactics. During all of this time, the Iranians continued on their quest for nuclear weapons. The program never stopped or slowed; it only accelerated. Eventually, the USA stopped offering bilateral meetings and became part of a group of six that was trying unsuccessfully to negotiate with Iran. The total failure of those negotiations led to the point where stronger sanctions against Iran were finally imposed.
Well, it's back. The failed policy of direct US-Iran negotiations with no preconditions has resurfaced. Vice president Biden made a public statement yesterday evening in which he said that the USA was ready for direct negotiations with no conditions with the Iranians. The reappearance of this failed policy is a major mistake. Indeed, this is such a bad move as to be appalling. For four years, the Iranians have danced around negotiations and stalled. There has been no movement towards a resolution. Now, however, we are down to the end game. It is generally agreed that Iran will reach the point where its nuclear ambitions cannot be stopped some time within the next six months. The mullahs were facing sanctions and a united opposition that would no longer be put off with phony talks. The threat of American or Israeli attack on Iran applied constant pressure on the Iranians to reach an agreement. So what has Obama done? With one move, he has given the Iranians a way to prevent an attack, move forward with their program and appear reasonable. All Iran has to do is agree to the talks. It will take two months for sure to schedule them. Then it will take months more to go through them and come to the inevitable conclusion that no agreement is possible. During that time, the USA will not attack. Also, the likelihood of an Israeli attack is greatly reduced; the Israelis would not want to attack while the USA is negotiating with the Iranians. All the while, Iran will move forward with the nuclear programs. By the time the negotiations fall apart, it will likely be too late.
Now I realize that the statement was made by Biden. This is a sure indicator that it was something of a trial balloon by the White House. If there is much push back to this major mistake, the Obamacrats can always say that Joe misspoke and "you know Joe, his mouth and his brain have trouble cooperating." The problem is that the Iranians may send word that they agree to meet. At that point, it is hard to imagine the Obama White House not going ahead with the futile scheme.
This is the first foreign policy move since the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, was sworn in. I do not know if the move has Kerry's fingerprints on it, but if it does, it is going to be even a longer four years than I expected.
Well, it's back. The failed policy of direct US-Iran negotiations with no preconditions has resurfaced. Vice president Biden made a public statement yesterday evening in which he said that the USA was ready for direct negotiations with no conditions with the Iranians. The reappearance of this failed policy is a major mistake. Indeed, this is such a bad move as to be appalling. For four years, the Iranians have danced around negotiations and stalled. There has been no movement towards a resolution. Now, however, we are down to the end game. It is generally agreed that Iran will reach the point where its nuclear ambitions cannot be stopped some time within the next six months. The mullahs were facing sanctions and a united opposition that would no longer be put off with phony talks. The threat of American or Israeli attack on Iran applied constant pressure on the Iranians to reach an agreement. So what has Obama done? With one move, he has given the Iranians a way to prevent an attack, move forward with their program and appear reasonable. All Iran has to do is agree to the talks. It will take two months for sure to schedule them. Then it will take months more to go through them and come to the inevitable conclusion that no agreement is possible. During that time, the USA will not attack. Also, the likelihood of an Israeli attack is greatly reduced; the Israelis would not want to attack while the USA is negotiating with the Iranians. All the while, Iran will move forward with the nuclear programs. By the time the negotiations fall apart, it will likely be too late.
Now I realize that the statement was made by Biden. This is a sure indicator that it was something of a trial balloon by the White House. If there is much push back to this major mistake, the Obamacrats can always say that Joe misspoke and "you know Joe, his mouth and his brain have trouble cooperating." The problem is that the Iranians may send word that they agree to meet. At that point, it is hard to imagine the Obama White House not going ahead with the futile scheme.
This is the first foreign policy move since the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, was sworn in. I do not know if the move has Kerry's fingerprints on it, but if it does, it is going to be even a longer four years than I expected.
No comments:
Post a Comment