One bad deal

 

 

"Are we flipping crazy, or what? We need to walk away from this as fast our little feet can carry us..."

Watching the nuclear "negotiations" take place between Iran and the seven "friendly" countries would almost be funny if the stakes were not so high. This is how a bad deal takes shape. How a bunch of yahoos, who know nothing of how to negotiate, get waltzed around the flagpole by a bunch of ideologue zealots who hate America (and Israel) with a passion. How the country we are negotiating with continues to work on a nuke while at the same time promising not too.

When I first got into the negotiation game, my boss told me I needed to first learn the basics. I was sent to a week long seminar which was held somewhere out west. It was hosted by Chester Karrass, the grand daddy of negotiation strategy and skill. It was a good class, and I learned quite a bit. The one thing however, which I thought was the cornerstone of this class was simply this - a bad deal is worse than a no deal. Secondary to that, was never be afraid to walk away from the table. Right now, our negotiation "team" is violating both those cardinal rules in Vienna.

Our President has made it known both near and far that a deal with Iran will be his "signature" foreign affairs achievement. You know, just like ObamaCare was his "signature" domestic one. The only difference is as bad as ObamaCare is, this will turn out worse. Yes, worse.

In the 90's, then President Clinton also wanted a "signature" foreign accomplishment. He was going to negotiate the pants of off the North Koreans. They would NEVER get a nuke when he was done with them! In fact, he was so serious, he sent over retired President Jimmy "Peanuts" Carter to finish these guys off. Carter, who Clinton thought was a hero due to the Camp David peace deal with Begin and Sadat in 1979, was his logical choice to be the closer. Carter closed it alright - the deal was so bad the North Koreans had a nuke in no time at all. Now they are a huge destabilizer in the Western Pacific.

So here we go again. As Yogi Berra would say, "It is deja vu all over again." For legacy purposes only, we are going to shake hands with the devil. I did not say "ink the deal" as I don't think this thing will ever pass the sniff test in Congress. It should be dead as a doornail once it gets to Washington. However, should they agree this thing should be signed, we are in more trouble than I thought we were.

What would I do if I was in charge of negotiations? Walk. And fast. Then I would tell Iran there will be no resumption in talks unless the following conditions are met: 1) Israel is included and recognized by the country of Iran, 2) There will be unconditional and unfettered inspections by any party we choose to verify compliance, and 3) the next anti-American or anti-Israeli demonstration during negotiations will cause an immediate abrogation to the proceedings.

Stay tuned for big news coming this week. Big news about a bad deal. If Iran gets a nuke (and I believe they will with this deal), the entire region will change - and not for the better. As was said in the movie Armageddon, "Tell the world to get ready for bad news..."