Senior Iranian negotiator: Military site inspections are "out of the question"

No change...

Tehran (AFP) - Senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that questioning Iranian scientists and military site inspections are "out of the question" in a final nuclear agreement with world powers.

Obvious: After lousy Iran deal, State Department wants class to learn how to negotiate

Better late than never I guess...

Via WFB

Less than a week following the framework of a nuclear deal with Iran that allows the Islamic Republic to continue operating core aspects of its program, the State Department is looking for a new training course on how to negotiate.
The agency released a solicitation for “Negotiations” on Wednesday, revealing that the State Department is seeking a class for U.S. diplomats on “making and receiving concessions wisely.”
“The overall course teaches the essential skills, knowledge, and attitudes for U.S. diplomats to succeed in any of 275 overseas posts performing the full spectrum of political and economic work,” the solicitation said. “This module will focus on the complex art of negotiating across diverse cultures to find common ground for advancing mutual interests.”
The training is meant to increase “understanding and effectiveness” of negotiations between foreign powers.
The State Department said upon completion of the course diplomats will be better able to describe “basic, universal negotiating concepts and vocabulary,” and identify “objectives and underlying interests of negotiating parties.”

Shocking: Iranian presidential aide defects during nuke negotiations; claims US "mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf "

Is anyone shocked?

Via The Telegraph:

A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.
Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his 2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA)….
In his television interview, Mr Mottaghi also gave succour to western critics of the proposed nuclear deal, which has seen the White House pursue a more conciliatory line with Tehran than some of America’s European allies in the negotiating team, comprising the five permanent members of the UN security council and Germany.
“The US negotiating team are mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with other members of the 5+1 countries and convince them of a deal,” he said.

Keep on reading…

Obama's Iran negotiations may be too much for even democrats...

After the Syria debacle, Obama has lost what little authority he had on foreign policy.

Via Foreign Policy:

The Obama administration is facing an unexpected hurdle in its new nuclear talks with Iran - a sizeable bloc of Democratic lawmakers who have made clear that they would break with the White House and fight any effort to lift the current sanctions on Tehran.
The future of those sanctions is a key issue in this week's negotiations in Geneva between senior officials from Iran and the U.S., the most serious talks between the two longtime adversaries in decades. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif kicked off Monday's session with a PowerPoint presentation, delivered in English, which offered to put new limits on his country's nuclear program in exchange for easing the Western sanctions that have devastated the Iranian economy and decimated the value of its currency. 
The White House has already signaled a potential openness to that kind of deal, but a wide array of powerful Democrats -- including the top members of both the Senate and House foreign affairs committees -- strongly oppose lifting any of the existing sanctions on Iran unless Tehran offers concessions that go far beyond anything Zarif has talked about in Geneva. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, has also promised to do everything in its power to keep the punitive measures in place.

Revealed: Obama turned down Republican debt ceiling deal because he wants more taxes...

Why Republicans even bother to attempt to negotiate with Obama is hard to understand. He only wants his political opponents (and the rest of the country) on their knees.

Via Politico:

President Barack Obama spoke with House Speaker John Boehner on Friday but did not wholly accept the House Republican plan to open government, raise the debt ceiling and open budget talks, sources said.

“The President and the Speaker spoke by telephone a few minutes ago. They agreed that we should all keep talking,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner.

Senior Republican sources say Obama is amenable to changes to mandatory and discretionary spending, but needs Republicans to commit to increasing governmental revenue. Obama also acknowledged that an unpopular medical device tax is not core to the health care law, GOP senators said after the meeting. That tax has been in the crosshairs of senators from both parties working toward a broad agreement.

Good News: Obama ready to negotiate with Republicans if they give him what he wants first...

So, If Republicans give democrats everything they want, he will negotiate with them. About what? If a used car salesman told you to buy a car at his price and he will negotiate the price later after the sale, would you take the deal?

Via USA Today:

President Obama said Monday he is “eager and ready” to negotiate with Republicans on the budget and other issues, but not until the House GOP votes to re-open the government and increase the debt ceiling.
“I’m happy to talk to Republicans about anything,” Obama said during a visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he took his campaign against the shutdown now in its seventh day.
While some 200 FEMA staff members were recalled from furlough — some without pay — to prepare for Tropical Storm Karen in the Gulf of Mexico, at least 100 of them will now have to be re-furloughed, Obama said.

Obama finally calls John Boehner to negotiate...

Just kidding. He called Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani thawed a three-decade freeze in relations between their two countries Friday, speaking by phone in the first conversation between an American and Iranian president since 1979. 

The president revealed Friday afternoon that the two leaders had spoken. He said he believes the two countries can reach a “comprehensive solution” on Iran’s nuclear program, and said he and Rouhani had both directed their diplomats to pursue an agreement. 

"I do believe there is a basis for a resolution," he said. [...]

Obama seems willing to compromise with Iran.

"I reiterated to President Rouhani what I said in New York. While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution," Obama said

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: U.S. has begun secret talks with Taliban

How do you negotiate with animals who shoot pregnant women on charges of adultery and execute small children for being spies?

KABUL –  The U.S. and Afghan governments have begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal, disclosing an important breakthrough in efforts to end the 10-year war.

Mr. Karzai, whose government had protested being left out of recent talks between Washington and the insurgents, added he believes most Taliban are "definitively" interested in a peace settlement.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: 'People in Afghanistan want peace, including the Taliban. They're also people like we all are. They have families, they have relatives, they have children, they are suffering a tough time.

Report: Obama administration considering release of alleged mass murderer in attempt to jump start talks with Taliban

You can't negotiate with Islamist terror groups. They think it is moral to lie to infidels.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Obama administration is considering transferring to Afghan custody a senior Taliban official suspected of major human rights abuses as part of a long-shot bid to improve the prospects of a peace deal in Afghanistan, Reuters has learned.

The potential hand-over of Mohammed Fazl, a ‘high-risk detainee’ held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison since early 2002, has set off alarms on Capitol Hill and among some U.S. intelligence officials.

As a senior commander of the Taliban army, Fazl is alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistan’s minority Shi’ite Muslims between 1998 and 2001.

According to U.S. military documents made public by WikiLeaks, he was also on the scene of a November 2001 prison riot that killed CIA operative Johnny Micheal Spann, the first American who died in combat in the Afghan war. There is no evidence, however, that Fazl played any direct role in Spann’s death.

The not so secret peace talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down

You can negotiate with people who will shoot women in the back of the head for alleged adultery.

(The Telegraph)- Secret exploratory peace talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down after details of the negotiations were leaked, Western diplomats have told The Daily Telegraph.

The breakdown in the talks at such an early stage has led to recriminations and claims that the details of the meetings and the identity of the Taliban's chief negotiator were deliberately leaked by 'paranoid' Afghan government figures.

Absolute confidentiality had been a key condition for the meetings which were held in Germany and Qatar earlier this year between Tayeb Agha, Taliban leader Mullah Omar's former private secretary, and senior officials from the US State Department and Central Intelligence Agency. The meetings were chaired by Michael Steiner, Germany's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The talks were described as a preliminary exercise aimed at agreeing a series of confidence-building measures to persuade the Taliban that the United States and its allies are serious about a negotiated settlement, sources close to the talks told The Daily Telegraph.

Priceless: Obama Was Asked To Leave Room During Debt Negotiations

President Obama has never run a business or been forced to negotiate unless he was in a position of overwhelming strength. He is obviously clueless as to how the real world works.

(The Hill) — In the midst of a rebellion from his own colleagues, John Boehner faced a big decision.

It was 10 p.m. last Thursday, the most stressful moment of his Speakership.

Boehner’s debt-limit bill was short on votes, and the GOP leadership was forced to change the measure so it could attract the support of recalcitrant members. With dozens of reporters staking out the Speaker’s office and Democrats trying to contain their glee, Boehner could have pressed to work through the night to move the amended bill early Friday morning. . .

GOP aides and lawmakers, speaking on background, portrayed Boehner as the calm negotiator who repeatedly exasperated President Obama....

On July 23, they claim, the White House called Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), telling her not to participate on a call with Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Pelosi informed Reid, who declined to participate, and the call was canceled, the Republican sources said. (A Pelosi spokesman could not be reached for comment.)

Later that day, the four leaders met with Obama at the White House. At one point, GOP officials said, the Democratic and Republican leaders asked Obama and his aides to leave the room to let them negotiate.

Obama Agreed to Negotiations Without Preconditions for Iran, But Not for Republicans on Health Care Reform

President Obama has agreed to negotiations with Iran without preconditions, but he won't do the same for health care reform negotiations with Republicans. Obama insists on starting with the Democrats plan and the precondition health care reform must be a massive overhaul takeover of the system.

From Legal Insurrection:

Barack Obama was steadfast during the campaign and after his election in his willingness to enter into negotiations with Iran without preconditions.

But Obama is not willing to enter into health care negotiations...

Great Video: Obama Lies Eight Times About Televising Health Reform Debate in One Clip

Here is a video clip of President Obama promising eight different times to not negotiate health care reform legislation behind closed doors. Of course, we now know Obama is a liar.



Obama was lying about not ever raising taxes on the middle class too.

Obama Promised He'd Negotiate Health Care Reform on C-SPAN

Instead, he has negotiated backroom deals with drug companies and allowed his supporters in Congress call anyone who dares disagree "un-American."

Naked Emperor News: ‘Obama’s Mother of All Political Lies and the Town Hall Mayhem It Caused’ (video)

From Breitbart:

"But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies."

North and South Korea talks end after only 22 minutes

The first talks between North and South Korea were broken off after only 22 minutes. Apparently, the South Koreans wanted to talk about a detained businessman and the North Koreans weren't interested. Based on recent North Korean actions and statements, I doubt anything short of a formal surrender would have kept the talks going. CNN is reporting,

(CNN) -- Details emerged Wednesday from the first government-to-government talks between the two Koreas in more than a year.

Tuesday's talks ended quickly -- after 22 minutes -- South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

The two sides were to discuss business deals tied to the Kaesung Industrial Complex in North Korea, which is run by both nations. The talks broke off after the North Korean delegation refused to discuss the release of a detained South Korean worker, saying he was not on the agenda, according to South Korean officials.