So, what they’re saying is: We skeptics were right about the Iran “deal”

A fresh lament has emerged in the languid saga of the non-deal Iran “deal.”  Suddenly the spin is off the talking point.  Right out there in the open, people have abandoned the sweaty effort of talking as if there’s a deal when there isn’t one, and have lapsed into describing reality, which is that there are just more talks on the horizon – probably, maybe, if the Iranians come back after walking out on Tuesday – and an agreement is looking somewhere between “meh” and “not happening.”

That didn’t take long.  Take a moment to consider what did just happen.

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The Geneva deal and triggers for Israeli action (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of a two-part post.  Part 1 is here.

The consequences of Iran getting the bomb are significant, of course, including the urge other nations will feel to acquire the bomb for themselves, and the geopolitical use Iran will make of the bomb as both a regional threat and a deterrent against other nations, to cover Iran’s support of insurgencies and other proxy efforts abroad.  I have discussed these concerns, and others, at length elsewhere.  (Most links can be found at The Optimistic Conservative Iran Page.)

But the idea of this month’s deal as a watershed in global relations with Iran sets up a more imminent crisis point,

The deal that will launch a thousand attack sorties? (Part 1)

This is Part 1 of a two-part post.  Part 2 is here.

It’s hard to overstate the concern with which we should view the nuclear “deal” concluded with Iran on Saturday, 23 November.  Although everyone will wait, there is actually nothing to wait for with this deal: nothing to watch develop.  To say “We’ll see what happens,” in terms of Iran’s compliance, is to misunderstand.  As regards what matters to acquiring a nuclear weapon, Iran won’t change anything she’s been doing.*  She may (or may not) put off further some things she had already suspended, or had announced she was going to delay anyway.   But her program will not actually take a step backward.  It’s not even guaranteed