Re: “We had a deal" by Robert Garner. Obama’s ‘deal’ was initially developed as a possible treaty and was early on restructured as a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Obama realized that a treaty would need congressional support and that the Congress would not act on it. Therefore, he signed the JCPA knowing full well that it lacked neither Constitutional compliance nor broad popular support. It was another attempt by Obama to add to his meager legacy. As Andrew C. McCarthy, writes in the National Review, the JCPA “put Iran on a glide path to becoming a nuclear weapons power; took no action on Iran’s ballistic missile programs and support for terrorist proxies; enriched the regime by unmooring tens of billions of dollars in sanctioned oil revenue and frozen assets; and committed the United States to helping construct an industrial-strength civilian nuclear infrastructure (capable of shielding covert nuclear weapons research and development).” In other words, Obama’s deal was a plan, not a structured approach to neutralizing “the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.” It must hurt die-hard Obama supporters that many in the Congress supported Trump during his first term to shred that nothing-burger, if not calamitous, plan. However, if you are still a fan of the Iran regime, you may continue bashing Trump for upending their dreams.
So, Dirk, you are criticizing the JCPOA deal as a “nothing burger”. Tell that to all the major powers who approved the plan including China and Russia. Tell that to the 100 or so diplomats and scientists who worked two years to get it finalized. Tell that to Iran who agreed in writing to not pursue building a nuclear bomb. This last item was continuously monitored over the 11 years of the program and from all the physicists responding, Iran was complying.
You decry Obama for not getting congressional approval for his plan, yet nothing is said about Trump starting his war with Iran without congressional approval nor having a plan for terminating the war. Now, Trump is trying just to get back to the prior agreement he tore up without anything to replace it. On all levels Trump failed in this war and unfortunately we citizens are paying the price.
Rel - I agree with you on a few things especially on how Trump decided with Israel to start a war. He should have gotten Congressional approval which they, of course, denied recently. Trump challenges everyone and all until he is limited by our judicial system, for which we need to graceful. The Executive branch has frequently pushed the envelop and that includes many including Obama and Biden. What bothers me about your side of the isle that you remain in lock step, regardless, with the Dem presidents' activities. That is very different from our side as you could have seen in Congressional actions in the last few weeks. Now, with respect to the JCPA, while many signed the agreement, there was no follow up or enforcement. The signatories were, and are, as useless as the UN Security Council, just words, but no action. Contrary to your assertion, the UN inspectors were prohibited from verifying Iran's nuclear activities and posted their frustration as being waylaid. Based on credible security data, provided by third parties, Trump had enough and bombed their enrichment facilities into oblivion. However, it seems that Iran has Plan B which remains a threat. I am not sure why you would, as a patriotic American as I know you, continue to defend the severe shortcomings of the JCPOA. Time will tell whether the recent Operation in Iran was effective and required. Eisenhower had the same doubts before the Normandy invasion and while this is not at the same scale, our leaders make different decisions risking public opinions and positive or negative out comes. Obama never took any of these risks and kicked the can down the road as he admitted later on.
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So, Dirk, you are criticizing the JCPOA deal as a “nothing burger”. Tell that to all the major powers who approved the plan including China and Russia. Tell that to the 100 or so diplomats and scientists who worked two years to get it finalized. Tell that to Iran who agreed in writing to not pursue building a nuclear bomb. This last item was continuously monitored over the 11 years of the program and from all the physicists responding, Iran was complying.
You decry Obama for not getting congressional approval for his plan, yet nothing is said about Trump starting his war with Iran without congressional approval nor having a plan for terminating the war. Now, Trump is trying just to get back to the prior agreement he tore up without anything to replace it. On all levels Trump failed in this war and unfortunately we citizens are paying the price.
Rel - I agree with you on a few things especially on how Trump decided with Israel to start a war. He should have gotten Congressional approval which they, of course, denied recently. Trump challenges everyone and all until he is limited by our judicial system, for which we need to graceful. The Executive branch has frequently pushed the envelop and that includes many including Obama and Biden. What bothers me about your side of the isle that you remain in lock step, regardless, with the Dem presidents' activities. That is very different from our side as you could have seen in Congressional actions in the last few weeks. Now, with respect to the JCPA, while many signed the agreement, there was no follow up or enforcement. The signatories were, and are, as useless as the UN Security Council, just words, but no action. Contrary to your assertion, the UN inspectors were prohibited from verifying Iran's nuclear activities and posted their frustration as being waylaid. Based on credible security data, provided by third parties, Trump had enough and bombed their enrichment facilities into oblivion. However, it seems that Iran has Plan B which remains a threat. I am not sure why you would, as a patriotic American as I know you, continue to defend the severe shortcomings of the JCPOA. Time will tell whether the recent Operation in Iran was effective and required. Eisenhower had the same doubts before the Normandy invasion and while this is not at the same scale, our leaders make different decisions risking public opinions and positive or negative out comes. Obama never took any of these risks and kicked the can down the road as he admitted later on.
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