President Obama announced on Tuesday that his administration had reached a deal that prevents Iran from building nuclear weapons and defended its provisions for verifying Tehran’s compliance.
“Every pathway to a nuclear weapon is cut off,” Mr. Obama said in an early morning address at the White House. “This deal is not built on trust. It is built on verification.”
Yet the deal struck with Iran is far different from what was described to the Congress earlier this year, which included anywhere-anytime inspections and a snap-back of all sanctions should Iran fail to abide by the agreement; both are absent from this agreement.
The president said the lack of an agreement would lead to a nuclear-arms race in the Middle East. He asked Congress, which will have 60 days to review the agreement, to “consider what happens in a world without” the deal.
It is likely that this deal will meet with bipartisan challenges and will almost certainly be voted down by a majority of both houses; however while Mr. Obama said he welcomed “robust debate” by lawmakers over the deal, he vowed to veto any effort to unravel the agreement. Upon a veto it would take a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress to override Mr. Obama’s veto and would likely fail. The Iran deal will likely survive any attempts by the Congress as hard left Liberals will stand with the president no matter what they think of the agreement.
https://youtu.be/3B9svYKrff8
“We give nothing up by testing whether this problem can be solved peacefully,” Mr. Obama said. “No deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East. No deal means no lasting constraints on Iran’s nuclear program. The world will not support an effort to permanently sanction Iran into submission.”
What a number of members of his own party have stated is that an agreement that allows Iran a roadmap to join the nuclear powers will incite Iran’s foes in the region, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Emirates and Yemen to seek nuclear capabilities to allow them to stand up to Iran.
The president said the agreement “demonstrates that American diplomacy can bring about real and meaningful change.”
“We have stopped the spread of nuclear weapons in this region,” he said.
The facts simply don’t support Mr. Obama’s assertions.
“I will remind Congress that you don’t make deals like this with your friends,” Mr. Obama said. “I am confident that this deal will meet the national security interests of the United States and our allies. So I will veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of this deal.”
The president cautioned lawmakers not to engage in a reckless escalation of rhetoric against Iran.
“We do not have to accept an inevitable spiral into conflict, and we certainly shouldn’t seek it,” Mr. Obama said. “Precisely because the stakes are so high, this is not the time for politics or posturing. Tough talk from Washington does not solve problems. Hard-nosed diplomacy, leadership that has united the world’s major powers, offers a more effective way to verify that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon.”
The agreement is likely to also add fuel to the Trump campaign that centers on the inability of the Obama administration to strike deals that favor the United States interests. The man behind The Art of the Deal, a book that still holds the record for business books on New York Times bestsellers list, Amazon and Barnes and Noble, couldn’t ask for a better talking point than the Iran nuclear agreement.
Sadly this is just one more example of how the Obama administration focuses on achieving a stated goal even if they have to give away the baby with the bathwater; worst of all, America’s greatest enemies know Mr. Obama’s goals are like Jello and given enough push back he always yields.