Working title for John Kerry's memoirs: The Art of the Disastrous Deal . . . On today's Morning Joe, former CIA Director Michael Hayden said he was "stunned" to hear Kerry recently say that the Iranians' work toward weaponizing a nuclear device is not as important as some are suggesting and that they don't have to come clean before an agreement.
Hayden later said that the US must walk away from the deal unless Iran agrees to "anytime, anywhere" inspections, something that for now the ayatollah's agents are refusing. The alarm Hayden sounded today is in line with the letter that five of President Obama's former senior national security advisers have sent him, warning that the deal falls short of meeting the administration's own standards for what constitutes a good deal.
Steve Rattner, Obama's former car czar, suggested that Kerry & Company might have caught a case of "deal fever" in which "you just get so into the deal that the deal becomes the objective rather than the substance of what's actually in the deal." If Kerry and Obama have caught that fever, the entire country--and the world--could wind up getting very sick.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: General, you've had concerns about the deal. How do you feel today?
MICHAEL HAYDEN: Not good, Joe. The secretary's point about what really matters is what's in the final document: actually that's only half of what's important. What really matters then is what the Iranians do to live up to the terms in the final document. And in that sense what the Supreme Leader says really matters [Ayatollah Khamenei has announced that he opposes a long-term freeze on Iranian nuclear research.] So he may have been posturing but I wouldn't bet the farm on that.
JOE: What developments have happened over the past month that cause you the greatest concern?
HAYDEN: I was actually stunned about ten days ago the secretary made his first public appearance after his injury. And he talked about the possible military dimensions of the program, the previous activities to actually weaponize a nuclear device. And number one he said, you know, that's not really as important as some people were suggesting it is. And number two, they don't really have to come clean before an agreement --
JOE: Didn't the administration themselves suggest this was important in the early phase?
HAYDEN: This is a walk back [AKA cave, concession] from the previous position.
JOE: How many walk backs have they had?
HAYDEN: Well, I don't know that sanctions are going to "snap back." I don't know that we're going to get previous military dimensions of the program explained before we sign and I don't think we're getting "any time, anywhere: inspections. And all of those really do have to be preconditions.
