The New York Times, "U.S. Officials Say Iran Has Agreed to Nuclear Talks": Obama Hands the Mullahs an A-Bomb on a Silver Platter

Do you recall US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's interview on "60 Minutes" in December 2011 in which he said that unless stopped, Iran could build a nuclear weapon within a year, or "perhaps a little less" (see: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7392221n)? Well, a year has almost gone by, and Iran shows no signs of slowing its nuclear weapons development program.

What has the West done? So-called negotiations between the P5+1, led by the EU's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the bovine Catherine Ashton, and Iran have of course come to naught. So now we have the Obama administration leaking, and simultaneously denying, that the US has agreed to engage in direct bilateral negotiations with Iran after the November presidential elections.

Or in other words, Iran is being given the time to finish manufacturing its first atomic weapon.

In a New York Times article entitled "U.S. Officials Say Iran Has Agreed to Nuclear Talks" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/world/iran-said-ready-to-talk-to-us-about-nuclear-program.html?ref=politics&_r=1&pagewanted=all&), Helene Cooper and Mark Landler describe the secret negotiations between the US and Iran leading to the talks following the election:

"The United States and Iran have agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran.

Iranian officials have insisted that the talks wait until after the presidential election, a senior administration official said, telling their American counterparts that they want to know with whom they would be negotiating.

News of the agreement — a result of intense, secret exchanges between American and Iranian officials that date almost to the beginning of President Obama’s term — comes at a critical moment in the presidential contest, just two weeks before Election Day and the weekend before the final debate, which is to focus on national security and foreign policy."

The article goes on to say that although "Some American officials would like to limit the talks to Iran’s nuclear program," Iran wishes to expand the discussion "to include Syria, Bahrain and other issues." Any such broadening of the agenda would naturally ensure even futher delay, all in accordance with Tehran's game plan.

In short, Obama has kicked the can even further down the road. If Obama is not re-elected, a nuclear Iran becomes Romney's problem. If Obama is re-elected, preventing Iran from attaining its first nuclear weapon will most likely already have become a moot issue, and the new focus over the course of a second term will shift to containment.