Thursday, July 16, 2015

Portrait of a Shrewd Negotiator


15 comments:

David Ignatius said...



"As the Iran nuclear talks neared the endgame, some observers worried that President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry, in their eagerness for a deal, would give away the store with last-minute concessions.

Those fears turned out to be misplaced, notwithstanding Tuesday’s howls of protest from Israeli and GOP critics. The agreement is a well-crafted pact that maintains the framework reached in Lausanne, Switzerland, in April. Rather than softening the Lausanne terms, the final language firms up some squishy items. It also adds important new restrictions on Iran’s ability to develop the exotic triggering mechanisms needed to build a nuclear bomb.

The problem isn’t the agreement but Iran itself. Its behavior remains defiantly belligerent, even as it signs an accord pledging to be peaceful. Its operatives subvert neighboring regimes, even as their front companies are about to be removed from the sanctions lists. The agreement welcomes Iran to the community of nations, even though its leader proclaims that Iran is a revolutionary cause."

Joe said...

DI What makes you imagine that Iran would even THINK about adhering to an "agreement?" They never have before and there is no reason to think they will now. It's a phony agreement from the get-go.

David Ignatius said...

Okay, then. Since you have a vast and deep knowledge of exactly what is in the agreement, I must defer to your expertise. I mean, you know this is a phony agreement because you were asked to join the negotiations and have read it?

Meanwhile, people who actually do know something other than GOP talking points about this very complex issue say this:

"I would give it an A": Why nuclear experts love the Iran deal

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Can anyone show me in the Constitution where it authorizes our government to give to Iran $3 billion cash and $9.6 Billion in gold of OUR TAX MONEY?!?!?!? And what benefit does the USA derive from giving them all the vehicles, etc. Why couldn't we demand the freedom of Americans held prisoner over there -- in prison for nothing more than being Christians.

Joe said...

DI: "...because you were asked to join the negotiations...?

How did you know?

GEC: We got the proverbial short end of the stick.

Craig said...

Glenn, none of OUR TAX MONEY is going to Iran. They are releasing their frozen assets and only when certain conditions of the deal are met. Of the 4 Americans being held 2 are Muslim, 1 Jewish and only one Christian.

Joe, 14,000 of Iran's 20,000 centrifuges are being retired. They have to give up 97% of their uranium stockpile. They cannot enrich beyond 5%. Weapons grade uranium is enriched to 90%.

Look at the deal, not the spin/lies. Life 'o' the mind, Joe.

Ducky's here said...

First of all Glenn, I suggest you make sure that the money doesn't represent the unfreezing of Iranian financial assets.

Second, I imagine the same place in the Constitution which allows aid to Egypt, Israel et. al.

President Obama (the grownup in the room) addressed that when he went real slow for you fringe right wingers and pointed out that the purpose of this agreement was to prevent Iranian procurement of a nuclear weapon. That was the purpose not prisoner negotiations.

Iran has to dismantle over two thirds of their centrifuges. Your graphic is a lie, Joe.

Ducky's here said...

Looks like a near simultaneous post with Craig.

I'm not surprised that he's informed on the centrifuge issue.

Care to retract your lie, Joe or can you defend your position?

Joe said...

DI: "...you know this is a phony agreement because you were asked to join the negotiations and have read it?"

No. Because I know the history of Iran and their "deals." They have never kept their end of any bargain they've ever entered into, and I can't think of one reason to even suspect they might keep this one.

Wanna see how well people we make deals with keep their end of the bargain? Check out Clinton's deal with North Korea. Check out Jimmy Carter's deals. But of course Iran will be different...why?

Craig: "14,000 of Iran's 20,000 centrifuges are being retired. They have to give up 97% of their uranium stockpile. They cannot enrich beyond 5%. Weapons grade uranium is enriched to 90%."

Iran will not retire 14,000 centrifuges, they will not give up 97% of their uranium stockpile and they WILL enrich beyond 5%, regardless of any deal they "agree" to. They are Iran. It's what they do.

Ducky: See above.

Craig said...

Saying you don't think Iran will honor the agreement is, at least, more honest than posting lies about what's in the agreement. Being wrong is no sin, lying is. I'm not saying you're lying but you continually post someone else's lies. At what point do you stop trusting and trying to defend your dishonest sources?

Seriously, isn't your immortal soul at stake?

Joe said...

Craig: "Seriously, isn't your immortal soul at stake?"

No.

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

The one Christian is an important hostage who should be freed before any negotiations. That many has suffered much pain in torture and they have no right to keep him in prison for no crime.

I don't know anything about the others, but if they are American citizens, then their release should be part of the deal. Oh, wait, I forgot-- Obama only wants traitors to be returned and he'll trade terrorists for a traitor.

I don't think we should be sending tax dollars to any nation, unless they are our bonafide allies and we are helping the to fight - sort of like how our tax dollars to Britain helped win WWII.

Joe said...

Craig: So, is "retired" the same as dismantled. Does that mean they will never again be used? Wanna bet?

Will the 97% "given up" uranium be shipped out, or just set aside?

How many facilities will be closed? Give me a number.

Will their plutonium reactor be delayed?

Will they still be testing missles?

Will they take specific steps to reduce or stop terrorism?

Will the stop honor killings, the persecution of Christians just for being Christians, preventing women from being raped with no recourse, preventing women from driving? Will they continue to abuse human rights?

It is a very, very bad deal.

Craig said...

Do some homework

Iran is still a bad actor in the region. How long have we heard a nuclear Iran is an existential threat. The most important thing was to stop them from building a bomb. That's what the agreement does. It's ridiculous to say it's a bad deal for not negotiating a Jeffersonian democracy.

Joe said...

Craig: "That's what the agreement does."

It doesn't and it won't.

To have a deal, two parties must agree in truth. Iran does not see untruth as a lie when it is dealing with infidels. We are infidels. They can lie to us and it is truth to them. That's the way it is and all of our bravado won't change that.

In this deal, Iran holds all of the cards, and they are all aces.

Liberals can't imagine that, so they just happily go along like Klem Kadidlehopper...doo-be-doo-doo.