IF . . .

In the first official talks with Iran in more than 30 years, Iran has agreed to allow international inspectors into its newly revealed enrichment facility within two weeks and to send most of its openly declared stock of enriched uranium out of the country to be processed into fuel to produce medical isotopes.

There are several big IF's -- but if those ifs turn out to be correct, then this is a huge breakthrough.

IF: we are reading them correctly, although it sounds pretty clear as reported by the New York Times.

IF: the Iranians actually follow through on these promises. They are notoriously duplicitous.

IF: they do not also have other large secret supplies of enriched uranium so that what they're talking about is an insignificant amount of their total stock.

So, if those ifs turn into yesses, then Obama is vindicated in his policy that goes all the way back to the campaign debates, when he was derided by Hillary, among others, for saying he would sit down with our enemies to negotiate without preconditions (not without preparations, he later clarified).

Obama has been in office for 9 months -- and he may have accomplished something Bush didn't even try to do -- didn't even want to do; because cowboys don't talk to rustlers, I suppose. They think it makes them look weak. But look what you can get done if you're more concerned with results than image.

IF . . .

Ralph