Familiar

The Washington Post, has been, until quite recently, a leading media hamster for the president. But that appears to be changing—at least a little. Maybe it's the simple reality that Barack Obama knowingly and repeatedly lied about Obamacare, both before and after it was enacted—all for political leverage. Or maybe it's the cumulative effect of major scandals—Fast and Furious, the IRS scandal, or Benghazi in which the Obama administration blatantly stonewalled in a manner that would have made Richard Nixon blush. Regardless, the WaPo is taking a harder look at this administration's claims and finds many of them dishonest or wanting.

In today's WaPo, The Editorial Board examines claims by Barack Obama and John Kerry on the Iran Deal:

THE FACT sheet distributed by the Obama administration about the nuclear agreement with Iran is notable for its omissions....

What the White House didn’t report is that the text of the accord makes several major concessions to Tehran on the terms of a planned second-stage agreement. Though White House officials and Secretary of State John F. Kerry repeatedly said that Iran’s assertion of a “right to enrich” uranium would not be recognized in an interim deal, the text says the “comprehensive solution” will “involve a mutually defined enrichment program with mutually agreed parameters.” In other words, the United States and its partners have already agreed that Iranian enrichment activity will continue indefinitely. In contrast, a long-standing U.S. demand that an underground enrichment facility be closed is not mentioned.

Mr. Obama and other U.S. officials have spoken about a six-month time frame for completing negotiations, but the agreement says the six-month arrangement can be renewed “by mutual consent” and that “the parties aim to conclude negotiating and commence implementing [in] no more than one year.” It also states that “there would be additional steps in between the initial measures and the final step,” including “addressing the U.N. Security Council resolutions.” Those resolutions order Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, but the agreement does not say whether those demands will be enforced.

The most troubling part of the document provides for what amounts to a sunset clause in the comprehensive agreement. It says the final deal will “have a specified long-term duration to be agreed upon,” and that once that time period is complete, “the Iranian nuclear program will be treated in the same manner as that of any non-nuclear weapon state party” to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran thus could look forward to a time when there would be no sanctions and no special restrictions on its nuclear capacity; it could install an unlimited number of centrifuges and produce plutonium without violating any international accord.

So ... basically, Barack Obama tells us one thing about a document, but the actual written agreement tells us something significantly different—and far worse. Sound familiar?