He really wants one. Which, of course, means he wants everyone to shut the hell up, and he’ll trot out lots of strawmen and Blamestorming
(The Hill) President Obama said he expects a “robust debate†about the budding deal with Iran over its nuclear program and fervently defended the draft accord.
“Here in the United States, I expect a robust debate,†he said in his weekly address, released Saturday. “We’ll keep Congress and the American people fully briefed on the substance of the deal.â€
Well, that would be a first. He failed to keep the Congress and the People fully briefed as the deal was being negotiated, and don’t expect much more than a rah rah campaign as the time comes to actually sign a printed deal.
“As we engage in this debate, let’s remember — we really only have three options for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program,†Obama said, before enumerating them: “Bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities — which will only set its program back a few years — while starting another war in the Middle East; abandoning negotiations and hoping for the best with sanctions — even though that’s always led to Iran making more progress in its nuclear program; or a robust and verifiable deal like this one that peacefully prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.â€
Of course, his “robust deal” only pushes back Iran’s nuclear weapons program about a decade. Bombing the facilities back to the stone age, and bombing them if we see them restarted, would put a serious crimp in the program. I’m not advocating for this, just making note. Let’s consider
THE “KEY parameters†for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program released Thursday fall well short of the goals originally set by the Obama administration. None of Iran’s nuclear facilities — including the Fordow center buried under a mountain — will be closed. Not one of the country’s 19,000 centrifuges will be dismantled. Tehran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium will be “reduced†but not necessarily shipped out of the country. In effect, Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain intact, though some of it will be mothballed for 10 years. When the accord lapses, the Islamic republic will instantly become a threshold nuclear state.
That’s a long way from the standard set by President Obama in 2012 when he declared that “the deal we’ll accept†with Iran “is that they end their nuclear program†and “abide by the U.N. resolutions that have been in place.†Those resolutions call for Iran to suspend the enrichment of uranium. Instead, under the agreement announced Thursday, enrichment will continue with 5,000 centrifuges for a decade, and all restraints on it will end in 15 years.
Mr. Obama argued forcefully — and sometimes combatively — Thursday that the United States and its partners had obtained “a good deal†and that it was preferable to the alternatives, which he described as a nearly inevitable slide toward war. He also said he welcomed a “robust debate.†We hope that, as that debate goes forward, the president and his aides will respond substantively to legitimate questions, rather than claim, as Mr. Obama did, that the “inevitable critics†who “sound off†prefer “the risk of another war in the Middle East.â€
That’s not from some Conservative site, like National Review or the Weekly Standard. That comes directly from the Washington Post Editorial Board. They see this deal for what it is: a temporary fix that helps out Iran and kicks the can down the road, while also noting that Mr. Obama generally act particularly well when he himself is calling for debate.
The proposed accord will provide Iran a huge economic boost that will allow it to wage more aggressively the wars it is already fighting or sponsoring across the region.
Strange, wouldn’t you say? Obama, in his Weekly Address, talked about “phased removal of sanctions”.
(Powerline) Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani went on state-run television today to explain the deal that has been reached (in principle, at least) to the Iranian people. FARS News describes the speech:
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani underlined on Friday that all the UN and economic, financial and banking sanctions against Iran will be annuled the moment a final nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers goes into effect.
Of course, at the end of the day, the deal is not finalized. Right now it seems that Iran is getting everything they want, namely, the removal of sanctions while still having the ability to seek nuclear weapons, albeit at a slower pace. We’ll have to see what the end result is.
Read: Obama Is Totally Up For A Robust Debate On Iran Deal »
Long-Awaited ‘Jump’ In Global Warming Now Appears ‘Imminent’
