Leadup to ‘deal’: Sanitizing Iran, demonizing Israel

As expected, the Obama administration is having a hard time selling the American public on the feeble understanding — it’s not a “deal,” since nothing was signed — that was recently reached with Iran over its nuclear program.

Let’s start with President Obama himself. Interviewed by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times after the understanding was announced, Obama was confident and buoyant, declaring that there was no formula “more effective than the diplomatic initiative and framework that we put forward” when it comes to preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. 

Then National Public Radio (NPR) turned up. In that interview, an awkward-sounding Obama admitted that a little over a decade after a final deal is signed, Iran’s advanced centrifuges would have shrunk the nuclear weapon breakout time “almost down to zero.” It was a stunning and possibly unintended confession that sent both the White House and the State Department scrambling to offer a clarification.

State spokeswoman Marie Harf described Obama’s words as “muddled” and “confusing,” before attempting to persuade us that the president was explaining what would happen without a deal. But look at what Obama actually said: “We’re purchasing for 13, 14, 15 years assurances that the breakout is at least a year ... that — that if they decided to break the deal, kick out all the inspectors, break the seals and go for a bomb, we’d have over a year to respond. And we have those assurances for at least well over a decade.”

It’s painfully clear that the scenario he outlined is one with a deal in place.