The bad news is that one of those signs is that some people are trying to move the goalposts for what the agreement should accomplish. Exhibit A: Eli Lake and Josh Rogin.
For anyone hoping a nuclear deal with Iran might stop the Tehran government from destabilizing the Middle East or free its political prisoners, the Obama administration has some bad news: It's just an arms control agreement.Excuse me...when did anyone in the Obama administration or any of the other 5 nations participating in these negotiations suggest that the goal was to "spur Iranian reform?" It has seemed perfectly clear to most of us that these efforts were about getting Iran to give up their quest for nuclear weapons. Just in case anyone harbors doubts about that, I would suggest you read the very extensive and thorough interview Jeffrey Goldberg had with President Obama about it two years ago.
As details of a proposed pact leaked out of the Geneva talks Monday, administration officials told us they will ask the world to judge any final nuclear agreement on the technical aspects only, not on whether the deal will spur Iranian reform.
Truth be told, this is exactly why Bibi Netanyahu and the American neocons are so dead set against these negotiations. They are not interested in Iran voluntarily giving up their nuclear weapons. The bottom line is that they won't be satisfied with anything short of regime change in Iran. What boggles the mind is that forcing regime change is exactly what got us here in the first place. People who don't lust for war and domination are smart enough to know that.
UPDATE: I have been assuming the deadline for a broad political agreement in these negotiations was March 1, 2015 based on articles like this. But apparently I've been wrong. According to more recent reports, the deadline is March 31, 2015. I apologize for that error.
Hey, I'd love to see regime change too... just organic and not forced by a murderous and imperialist American foreign policy.
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