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Better late than never: John Kerry finds his legacy-defining victory in Iran deal | |
(35 minutes later) | |
It has come late in his career, not in the job he had most wanted, and it follows a grueling period that had reduced him to a punchline. But John Kerry has finally won. | It has come late in his career, not in the job he had most wanted, and it follows a grueling period that had reduced him to a punchline. But John Kerry has finally won. |
Related: Iran nuclear deal: negotiators announce 'framework' agreement | Related: Iran nuclear deal: negotiators announce 'framework' agreement |
The diplomatic breakthrough with Iran achieved in Lausanne has earned the US Secretary of State the aura of statesmanship denied him by a series of defeats, most devastatingly his 2004 presidential campaign portrayal as an aristocratic, vacillating windsurfer. | The diplomatic breakthrough with Iran achieved in Lausanne has earned the US Secretary of State the aura of statesmanship denied him by a series of defeats, most devastatingly his 2004 presidential campaign portrayal as an aristocratic, vacillating windsurfer. |
While the deal to prevent Iran from building a nuclear arsenal is not final, and the path to finalization on 30 June runs through the objections of hardliners in Washington, Tehran and Jerusalem, Kerry this week laid the ground for Barack Obama’s foreign-policy legacy – and, though confidantes say he is past focusing on it, long-delayed vindication. | While the deal to prevent Iran from building a nuclear arsenal is not final, and the path to finalization on 30 June runs through the objections of hardliners in Washington, Tehran and Jerusalem, Kerry this week laid the ground for Barack Obama’s foreign-policy legacy – and, though confidantes say he is past focusing on it, long-delayed vindication. |
The Iran accord has the potential to recast the Middle East and the US role in it, ratcheting down tensions between two bitter enemies. Its critics consider the enterprise a nave and even reckless delusion. Obama and Kerry have instead, for more than six years and in various capacities, focused on its promise. | The Iran accord has the potential to recast the Middle East and the US role in it, ratcheting down tensions between two bitter enemies. Its critics consider the enterprise a nave and even reckless delusion. Obama and Kerry have instead, for more than six years and in various capacities, focused on its promise. |
“If you’re not willing to talk with another country, and if you consider that dialogue to be a reward rather than a means to an end, you’re never getting anywhere. And I’ve just never seen him believe that more passionately on anything than on Iran,” said David Wade, a longtime aide who departed in February as State Department chief of staff. | “If you’re not willing to talk with another country, and if you consider that dialogue to be a reward rather than a means to an end, you’re never getting anywhere. And I’ve just never seen him believe that more passionately on anything than on Iran,” said David Wade, a longtime aide who departed in February as State Department chief of staff. |
Even when Kerry speaks triumphantly, there is a defensive undertone, as if to anticipate and deflect the criticisms that decades in public life have taught him are headed his way. | Even when Kerry speaks triumphantly, there is a defensive undertone, as if to anticipate and deflect the criticisms that decades in public life have taught him are headed his way. |
“Simply demanding that Iran capitulate makes a nice soundbite, but it’s not a policy. It is not a realistic plan,” Kerry said in Lausanne after reaching the deal, pivoting to the coming fight to stop Congress, backed by Israel, from scotching the emerging accord. | “Simply demanding that Iran capitulate makes a nice soundbite, but it’s not a policy. It is not a realistic plan,” Kerry said in Lausanne after reaching the deal, pivoting to the coming fight to stop Congress, backed by Israel, from scotching the emerging accord. |
Unusually for a US politician, foreign policy has occupied Kerry, now 71, from the start of his career. | Unusually for a US politician, foreign policy has occupied Kerry, now 71, from the start of his career. |
Kerry’s opposition to the Vietnam war, as a veteran and son of a foreign service officer, brought him on to the national stage. Much of his high-profile work in the Senate came from investigating dubious foreign misadventures like the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration. In the 1990s, his senatorial visit to Vietnam with fellow veteran John McCain cleared the path for a diplomatic rapprochement. His near-miss presidential bid focused on extricating the US from the Iraq war, though his opposition to it was hobbled by the fateful 2002 vote he cast, functionally, in favor of invasion. | Kerry’s opposition to the Vietnam war, as a veteran and son of a foreign service officer, brought him on to the national stage. Much of his high-profile work in the Senate came from investigating dubious foreign misadventures like the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration. In the 1990s, his senatorial visit to Vietnam with fellow veteran John McCain cleared the path for a diplomatic rapprochement. His near-miss presidential bid focused on extricating the US from the Iraq war, though his opposition to it was hobbled by the fateful 2002 vote he cast, functionally, in favor of invasion. |
Those sorts of failures and might-have-beens have pockmarked Kerry’s record, and the rebukes he has faced have at times been scathing. His Vietnam war heroism was recast as cowardice by George W Bush’s allies in 2004, and Bush successfully portrayed Kerry as a foppish buffoon. Even Obama, whom Kerry supported for president at the risk of angering the Clintons, initially passed over Kerry as his second-term chief diplomat and only tapped Kerry when Susan Rice’s bid drew implacable opposition. | Those sorts of failures and might-have-beens have pockmarked Kerry’s record, and the rebukes he has faced have at times been scathing. His Vietnam war heroism was recast as cowardice by George W Bush’s allies in 2004, and Bush successfully portrayed Kerry as a foppish buffoon. Even Obama, whom Kerry supported for president at the risk of angering the Clintons, initially passed over Kerry as his second-term chief diplomat and only tapped Kerry when Susan Rice’s bid drew implacable opposition. |
Related: Israel risks becoming apartheid state if peace talks fail, says John Kerry | Related: Israel risks becoming apartheid state if peace talks fail, says John Kerry |
It has not been easier for Kerry as secretary of state. He bet heavily on an Israel-Palestinian peace accord that was not to be. While attempting to rally support for US bombing of Syrian president Bashar Assad for his chemical-weapons use, Kerry saw his offhand musing about Assad giving up his weapons stockpiles turned into a Russian diplomatic coup that allowed Assad to avoid attack and remain in power. Onetime Kerry ally McCain, at a subsequent and brutal Senate hearing, turned to Kerry’s wife and stated: “Teresa, I apologize for what I’m about to do to John.” | It has not been easier for Kerry as secretary of state. He bet heavily on an Israel-Palestinian peace accord that was not to be. While attempting to rally support for US bombing of Syrian president Bashar Assad for his chemical-weapons use, Kerry saw his offhand musing about Assad giving up his weapons stockpiles turned into a Russian diplomatic coup that allowed Assad to avoid attack and remain in power. Onetime Kerry ally McCain, at a subsequent and brutal Senate hearing, turned to Kerry’s wife and stated: “Teresa, I apologize for what I’m about to do to John.” |
“I don’t think he cares about the critics at this point in his career. This job is his legacy job,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a former staffer for Kerry both in the Senate and at the State Department. | “I don’t think he cares about the critics at this point in his career. This job is his legacy job,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a former staffer for Kerry both in the Senate and at the State Department. |
Unlike Obama, who likens his foreign-policy approach to hitting singles and doubles, Kerry “swings for home runs”, Goldenberg said, “and it means you’re going to strike out more often.” | Unlike Obama, who likens his foreign-policy approach to hitting singles and doubles, Kerry “swings for home runs”, Goldenberg said, “and it means you’re going to strike out more often.” |
Kerry threw himself into the negotiations at Lausanne, staying past apparent deadlines and working in marathon sessions. His work in Switzerland crossed over unexpected cultural thresholds: he had a pizza named after him, and he posed generously for selfies. His black lycra biking outfit turned heads. | Kerry threw himself into the negotiations at Lausanne, staying past apparent deadlines and working in marathon sessions. His work in Switzerland crossed over unexpected cultural thresholds: he had a pizza named after him, and he posed generously for selfies. His black lycra biking outfit turned heads. |
Related: John Kerry on Syria: how a gaffe could stop a war | Jonathan Freedland | Related: John Kerry on Syria: how a gaffe could stop a war | Jonathan Freedland |
Aides said Kerry’s approach to finalizing the Iran deal, which will have to overcome opposition from Congress and traditional Saudi and Israeli allies eager to kill the deal, will be similar to what he displayed in Lausanne. His negotiations team will methodically focus on details, such as the critical, unresolved question of when economic sanctions will ease. On Capitol Hill, he will leverage his 30 years of relationships and institutional knowledge. In both cases, he will attempt to exhaust his critics. | Aides said Kerry’s approach to finalizing the Iran deal, which will have to overcome opposition from Congress and traditional Saudi and Israeli allies eager to kill the deal, will be similar to what he displayed in Lausanne. His negotiations team will methodically focus on details, such as the critical, unresolved question of when economic sanctions will ease. On Capitol Hill, he will leverage his 30 years of relationships and institutional knowledge. In both cases, he will attempt to exhaust his critics. |
Already Kerry appears to have earned a minor reprieve. Bloomberg columnists Eli Lake and Josh Rogin reported that Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, will pause a bill seeking to add sanctions on Iran until the 30 June finalization deadline. | Already Kerry appears to have earned a minor reprieve. Bloomberg columnists Eli Lake and Josh Rogin reported that Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, will pause a bill seeking to add sanctions on Iran until the 30 June finalization deadline. |
Yet the bipartisan leadership of Kerry’s old Senate foreign relations committee has made clear that in two weeks, it will advance a measure to require congressional approval for the deal, a move that would grant the GOP-led Senate the power to kill it. Domestically, the test of what could be Kerry’s legacy initiative is set to unfold. | Yet the bipartisan leadership of Kerry’s old Senate foreign relations committee has made clear that in two weeks, it will advance a measure to require congressional approval for the deal, a move that would grant the GOP-led Senate the power to kill it. Domestically, the test of what could be Kerry’s legacy initiative is set to unfold. |
Wade, Kerry’s former chief of staff, considers the man mocked by McCain as a “human wrecking ball” to be prepared. | Wade, Kerry’s former chief of staff, considers the man mocked by McCain as a “human wrecking ball” to be prepared. |
“He always used to say to us, ‘There’s not exit polls in foreign policy’. After he lost the presidency in a race where the exit polls said he was going to win, that phase probably has a special resonance for him,” Wade said. | “He always used to say to us, ‘There’s not exit polls in foreign policy’. After he lost the presidency in a race where the exit polls said he was going to win, that phase probably has a special resonance for him,” Wade said. |
“It’s a reminder that whatever you do today can be wiped away tomorrow, so he just tends to stay focused on what’s next.” | “It’s a reminder that whatever you do today can be wiped away tomorrow, so he just tends to stay focused on what’s next.” |
Additional reporting by Julian Borger in Lausanne | Additional reporting by Julian Borger in Lausanne |