00:00I think what you're alluding to here is there's a mismatch in the skill sets between the negotiating
00:04teams. If that is indeed what you're alluding to, who's got the stronger lineup, the Americans or
00:10the Iranians? Well, I mean, look, when it comes to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,
00:17an 18-page document, they had 141 technical annexes. Took two years to produce. There,
00:26I think the teams were relatively evenly matched. And by the way, you know, I no more want Congress
00:32controlling U.S. foreign policy than I want the State Department controlling U.S. foreign policy.
00:37I worked for James Baker. He was not a diplomat. One of the best negotiators, I think, that the U
00:44.S.
00:44has ever had. Henry Kissinger, not a diplomat. You don't need diplomats. What you need to guide
00:51negotiations are people who have wisdom, judgment, have some sense of history and understand one
00:58basic reality, however politically inconvenient it may be, that a successful negotiation that
01:05will last must reflect a balance of interest.
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