AN ELEVENTH-HOUR PLOY TO BOOST OBAMA?
by Sharon Rondeau
(Oct. 21, 2012) — On Saturday evening, The Post & Email reported that a widely-circulated story stating that the U.S. and Iran had agreed to hold direct discussions on Iran’s nuclear program had been altered approximately one hour after it was published to say that “there was no plan” to hold such a meeting.
As of this writing, a current New York Times article states that Iran and the U.S. have agreed “in principle” to “one-on-one negotiations.” The alleged “agreement” is described as “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 term “in principle” was added after the first version of the article was published.
A Mr. R. Nicholas Burns is quoted as having opined that “It would be unconscionable to go to war if we haven’t had such discussions,” which suggests that the contention made that it would pose a “danger” if Romney were to become president and not attempt negotiations “without exhausting alternatives.” Burns is identified by The Times as having been George W. Bush’s negotiator with Iran, although Burns’s State Department biography does not mention Iran specifically. Burns worked under both Clinton and Bush.
Burns is quoted on page 2 of The New York Times article as believing that “Iran’s nuclear program ‘is the most difficult national security issue facing the United States…negotiating first with Iran makes sense.'” An opposing view is not presented.
A report without a byline issued by WorldNetDaily on Saturday began that by linking to the aforementioned New York Times article and referred to another of its articles published the day before by Reza Kahlili, but which references the news broken by The New York Times on October 20. WND states that Iran and the U.S. have “reached an agreement” in which the United States would cease to impose many of the sanctions in place against Iran in exchange for Iran’s agreement to “halt part of its nuclear program.”
On October 4, WND reported that an October surprise was in the offing and that a “secret Iran deal” had been formulated. The Iranian economy is suffering from sanctions imposed by numerous countries resulting from its uranium-enrichment activities.
The New York Times speculates that “…the prospect of one-on-one negotiations could put Mr. Romney in an awkward spot, since he has opposed allowing Iran to enrich uranium to any level — a concession that experts say will probably figure in any deal on the nuclear program.”
Last month, Obama refused to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his trip to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly specifically about the dangers of a nuclear Iran.
During the vice-presidential debate last Tuesday, Vice President Biden shrugged off the Iranian nuclear threat by stating that Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapon. One month ago, The Times of Israel reported that Iran had “deceived the West” about how close it is to building a nuclear weapon. The head of the IAEA, the organization charged by the United Nations to be the “world’s nuclear watchdog,” is also the Iranian vice president.
Obama reportedly requested communications with Iran beginning in January.
Iran says that it is “ready to help Egypt to build nuclear reactors and satellites.”
The news on Iranian-U.S. discussions comes two days before the last presidential debate to be held on Monday and just after members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent a strong letter to Obama contending that requests for more security by embassy staff went unanswered in the months leading up to the September 11 attack which left four Americans dead.
A Middle East analyst working for Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely (Ret.) stated that Libya has fallen into the hands of Islamic terrorists who have access to weapons formerly owned by Col. Muommar Gaddafi during his lengthy reign as Libyan dictator. The U.S. State Department had maintained a low security level to promote “normalization” despite rising terrorist attacks which caused the Red Cross and British embassy in Libya to close.
The UK Daily Mail reported on Saturday that U.S. drones were circling over the Benghazi compound during the raid but that a rescue was not attempted. Also stated is that the Pentagon denied Ambassador Stevens’ several requests for more security. On the day he died, Stevens approved a cable sent to Washington, DC from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli which cited rising concerns about violence and extremist groups.
CBS News confirms the report of the drone and quoted a retired CIA officer as stating that the Obama regime “stood and they watched and our people died.”