Did you know that candidate Barack Obama undercut Bush negotiations with Iran in 2008?
I had never heard of this before, but it seems exceptionally important:
In 2008, the Bush administration, along with the “six powers,” was negotiating with Iran concerning that country’s nuclear arms program. The Bush administration’s objective was to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. On July 20, 2008, the New York Times headlined: “Nuclear Talks With Iran End in a Deadlock.” …
The Iranians held firm to their position, perhaps because they knew that help was on the way, in the form of a new president. Barack Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination on June 3. At some point either before or after that date, but prior to the election, he secretly let the Iranians know that he would be much easier to bargain with than President Bush…
So Obama secretly told the mullahs not to make a deal until he assumed the presidency, when they would be able to make a better agreement. Which is exactly what happened: Obama abandoned the requirement that Iran stop enriching uranium, so that Iran’s nuclear program has sped ahead over the months and years that negotiations have dragged on.
Interesting, especially in light of all the recent flap and outrage about the GOP senators’ letter to Iran, which is in the public domain and is primarily a reiteration of the way US separation of powers works. Interesting, also, in light of Obama’s promise to the Russians that he’d have “more flexibility” on missile defense after the 2012 election.
Obama doesn’t keep all his promises, but he certainly keeps some, doesn’t he?
Michael Ledeen has written the following about the 2008 Iranian message from Obama:
During his first presidential campaign in 2008, Mr. Obama used a secret back channel to Tehran to assure the mullahs that he was a friend of the Islamic Republic, and that they would be very happy with his policies. The secret channel was Ambassador William G. Miller, who served in Iran during the shah’s rule, as chief of staff for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and as ambassador to Ukraine. Ambassador Miller has confirmed to me his conversations with Iranian leaders during the 2008 campaign.
Don’t sit on a hot stove until the MSM reports this. But you can send the news to as many of your friends who you think might listen.
This is surprising to about the same extant that Reagan’s hard line undercut Carter’s ingenuousness that would keep Americans hostage to the millennium. Which is to say… I’m not surprised.
Wouldn’t surprise me. However, there’s one item in Michael Ledeen’s article that I’m not so sure about. Ledeen points to Obama’s seeming reticence in going after Assad. But my recollection is that right around the time that it started to become clear that the Syrian uprising was falling under the sway of groups like ISIS, Obama started to make noises about wanting to support the rebels in overthrowing Assad.
That one item doesn’t fit with the others.
This story would have a greater possibility of gaining a wide audience if we could hear from Ledeen’s source, William G. Miller, himself. He’s still around, and is now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
junior,
You can’t assume that Obama has any well-thought-out coherent policy about about anything. The negotiations with Iran thing does fit beautifully the message to Putin about his flexibilty after the election. These two were simply a reflection of his belief that he is smarter than Bush and the world will honor that.
Ann Says:
March 12th, 2015 at 4:53 pm
This story would have a greater possibility of gaining a wide audience if we could hear from Ledeen’s source…
Good for the goose good for …:
Obama Caught on Hot Mic: Tells Russian Prez He’ll Have More ‘Flexibility’ ‘After My Election’
The pattern is interesting. He seems to keep his promises to those he wants to make friends with, or those he wants to think well of him. This does not apply domestically — “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” was a lie aimed at all Americans, after all — and I assume that’s because President Obama believes he can lie to Americans with impunity.
Nor is it simply a matter of lying at home and telling the truth overseas. Lying is the least of President Obama’s sins with respect to our allies. But he seems to understand that keeping one’s promises, at least for the moment, is important in trying to woo one’s enemies. (Or, contrariwise, perhaps he has some dim understanding that lying to their faces will not tend to win them over.)
In a saner world, a nominee, campaigning for President, who influences foreign policy this way — before even getting elected! — would be subject to charges of treason. But we know that wouldn’t stick here, would it? (Even though the term is bandied about freely with regard to Sen. Tom Cotton and his colleagues… when all they did was to send the mullahs a condensed version of “The U.S. Constitution For Dummies”.)
Exactly.
“He’s still around, and is now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.”
Looks like the 2003-2010 contributions of the employees lean 5 to 1 for Dems. So good luck getting a truthful answer.
Below is a list of the amounts of campaign contributions by employees of some of the top U.S. think tanks, broken down by giving to Republican or conservative candidates and organizations versus those that are Democratic or Liberal.
Organization Orientation
2003-2010 ””””’…………………………………….. …GOP % Dem %
Woodrow Wilson Center Centrist 14.50% 85.50% Center for American Progress Liberal 0.30% 98.80%
Cato Institute Conservative 99.60% 0.00%
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/03/03/think-tank-employees-tend-to-support-democrats
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
Wednesday, Mrs. Obama celebrated at the White House something called Nowruz, the Iranian festival of spring that marks the beginning of the Persian new year.
There are somewhere between half a million and a million Iranian Americans in the United States, about the same as the number of XYZ Americans. Where’s the White House XYZ American holiday celebration?
“I hope you enjoy the food and the celebration”
Petulant clowns …
Maybe all is not lost!:
Kerry admits to Senate that his negotiations with Iran are ‘not legally binding’
Petulant clowns!
There is love and goodness and goodwill!:
Did You Know that John Kerry’s Daughter is Married to an Iranian?
Sing along!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZYK9N1IP5Q&spfreload=10
I blame the voters ….
It’s not can be better than before:
Hardliner chosen to head council that selects Iran’s supreme leader
Miller: Iran AND Ukraine….?
That’s SOME coincidence.
junior:::
ISIS is HUGELY composed of ‘talent’ that was trained in the Jordanian desert by the CIA/ the British and the Jordanians to over throw Assad — all on the QT — and widely reported in the press — certainly by Fleet Street. REMEMBER?
This crowd crossed the border and went rogue – – pretty much immediately.
It’s THIS crew that flipped ISIS from the JV status to the caliphate.
AND it’s for THIS reason that Barry Soetoro had a ring side seat — watching the unfolding fiasco.
The weapons for these players came from Libya by way of the Balkans, Turkey and Jordan.
Like the small arms of “Wilson’s War” the CIA made sure to shuttle around strictly Soviet/ Russian / Com Bloc small arms — the stuff that Syrians are familiar with.
CRITICALLY – – we supplied the communications gear — which allowed ISIS to reach out and spoof the Iraqi military during the Mosul daze.
It was our desert commando schooling that caused the SUDDEN proficiency of the ISIS crowd.
You might notice that EVERY player over there is now using American Army style weapons portage protocols — and much else.
We also slipped night vision gear to the boys.
If you recall — an entire shipment was ‘stolen’ by ISIS from the anti-Assad ‘moderates’ — Hogans Heroes style — without a shot.
Shultz was interviewed at eleven, but he didn’t know anything, didn’t see anything.
The night vision goggles were stolen at night you see.
&&&&&&&&
Our main stream propaganda organs are editing out reality.
To see how they operate in the real world do view “Brazil” the film. (Pryce, Palin, De Niro)
Ted Kennedy … the Soviets. Democrats and treason. What’s new?
Of course Neo is right that this is a very immediate and contextually relevant example which redounds directly on the arch-Perpetrator himself.
And yes, he does keep some promises. At least to enemies of what was America as we once knew and lived it.
“If all are in chains then no one is a slave.” Or, “It takes a village – of serfs.”