But Iran is a tougher nut to crack. So we'll look the other way if Iran stops at civilian levels of enrichment secure in the knowledge that if Iran does this, the fall out won't hit before the election this fall:
In what would be a significant concession, Obama administration officials say they could support allowing Iran to maintain a crucial element of its disputed nuclear program if Tehran took other major steps to curb its ability to develop a nuclear bomb.
U.S. officials said they might agree to let Iran continue enriching uranium up to 5% purity, which is the upper end of the range for most civilian uses, if its government agrees to the unrestricted inspections, strict oversight and numerous safeguards that the United Nations has long demanded.
As I said, of course there will be a deal with Iran. They'll pretend to agree to something of substance and we'll pretend to believe them.
Build up enough of 5% enriched uranium and Iran can go to town to get it to bomb standards after breaking that agreement.
That which was once a sign of Iran's drive for nuclear weapons magically (with the soothing balms of hope and change!) becomes an internationally sanctioned sign of cooperation! And all we had to do was change our mind about what is acceptable:
But a consensus has gradually emerged among U.S. and other officials that Iran is unlikely to agree to a complete halt in enrichment. Maintaining an unconditional demand that it do so could make it impossible to reach a negotiated deal to stop the country's nuclear program, thereby avoiding a military attack.
Note, too, how the military option has been stood on its head. Once it the "last resort" to keep Iran from going nuclear--a threat to compel Iran to negotiate--now the small chance we might use force is the argument we are making to make concessions to Iran to avoid having to make that call to stop Iran with force.
But threats of force are just for the rubes here who desperately want to believe our president will do what it takes to defend us.
Why President Obama is worried about an attack is beyond me. He already figured out how to position a bus behind the designated fall-admiral should the attack go badly. One pre-thrown admiral almost under the bus, eh?
Isn't nuance grand?
