Said President Obama:
We should have a fairly good sense by the end of the year as to whether they are moving in the right direction and whether the parties involved are making progress and that there’s a good-faith effort to resolve differences.
Leave aside how silly it is that the President seems comfortable with the notion that he might spend the next six months, in addition to the last five, engaging the Iranians with absolutely no sense of whether or not things are “moving in the right direction.” Which “parties” is Obama referring to here? Direct negotiations by definition involve only two parties. Is Obama wondering aloud whether his Secretary of State is going to make a good-faith effort to resolve American differences with Iran? Is he wondering whether Dennis Ross is making progress — and will he wait until the end of the year to find out?
