GATES SPEAKS – AT 10:45 A.M. ET:  I haven't always agreed with him, but former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates is a serious man, well respected in Washington.  His "Face the Nation" comments on the Iran nuclear negotiations are devastating, and should be taken seriously.  From CBS:

I have several concerns that I hope can be addressed in the negotiations between now and June – the first is the timing of the lifting of the sanctions. Is it-- are they going to be lifted right away as long as the Iranians agree to implement the agreement. Or will be-- they be phased over time based on performance which has been our position all along. The second is verification. Unless we have sort of on-demand inspection at all facilities, including military facilities, I think, there is a great potential to cheat. Third, I think that this-- the-- the idea of being able to have these snapback sanctions, that sanctions could be re-imposed once lifted is very unrealistic. I think that the pursuit of the agreement is based on the President's hope that over a ten-year period with the sanctions being lifted that the Iranians will become a constructive stakeholder in the international community. That-- that as their economy begins to grow again, that-- that they will abandon their ideology, their theology, their revolutionary principles, their meddling in various parts of the region. And, frankly, I believe that's very unrealistic.

And...

I don't think the alternative is war. One alternative is better deal. I think that you go back to the sanctions, I think you reinforce the sanctions, and you basically say, here are the additional things we need for this agreement to work and to be worthwhile, and an agreement that reassures our allies or at least doesn't scare them half to death. If they choose not to come back to the negotiations, but to race to a nuclear weapon, well my guess is that will show that they intended to do that all along. Despite all their protestations, that they have no interest in a nuclear weapon, but I think-- I think that there is a potential for a better deal.

COMMENT:   A better deal will require, above all, firm American leadership.  Where do we find that right now?  Obama is president.  Kerry is secretary of state.   The appeasement twins, together again for their farewell tour.  They have made one concession after another. 

The negotiating deadline is June 30th, little more than a month from now.  Just yesterday the Iranian foreign minister reiterated his government's position that the deal will include no inspections of military sites.  That should be, in the grown-up world, a dealbreaker.  But we have a national administration that thinks it's running a student government. 

The next month will be critical in American foreign policy.

May 19, 2015