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Nuclear Deal with Iran

The new agreement doesn’t overthrow the clerical regime ruling Iran. It doesn’t change Iran’s policies toward Israel or its Arab neighbors. And it doesn’t force Iran to end the repression of its own people.

The agreement forged between Iran and the world’s powers does only one thing, but it is a big one: It reverses and contains what most experts consider the greatest nuclear proliferation challenge in the world. Whatever else Iran may do in the world, it will not do it backed with the threat of a nuclear weapon.

U.S. negotiators went into the Iran talks with three key objectives: cut off all of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear bomb, put in place a monitoring system to catch any Iranian cheating, and keep together the global coalition that can snap back sanctions if Iran breaks the deal. After 22 months of hard bargaining they have emerged with that and more. This detailed 100-plus-page agreement dismantles much of Iran’s nuclear program, freezes it, and puts a camera on it.

The deal eliminates the three ways Iran could build a bomb.

By ecthompsonmd|2015-07-16T17:35:23-04:00July 15th, 2015|Iran|Comments Off

Benjamin Netanyahu Goes to Washington

Just for second, let’s sit back and think about Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, coming to Washington to speak before a joint session of Congress. What was the point? Well, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner invited him to speak. Again, to what purpose? To me, the purpose was obvious. It was to embarrass the president. It was to prove to the American public that Barack Obama does not understand Middle East politics. Even further, it was to prove to the American public that Barack Obama’s path towards a nuclear deal with Iran was dangerous. Let’s ignore the fact that Barack Obama has stated on a number of occasions that we must do everything in our power to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

So what did Prime Minister Netanyahu accomplish? In my mind, nothing. He did not embarrass the president. He did not put forth a plan that was more attractive than any other plan that has been suggested. As a matter fact, he said nothing new. It might be possible for you to construe his speech as a complete and total disaster.
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By ecthompsonmd|2015-03-04T08:23:33-04:00March 4th, 2015|Congress, Iran, Party Politics|Comments Off

Historic Agreement with Iran

We’ve been told repeatedly that Barack Obama and his foreign-policy team are amateurs. They don’t know what they’re doing. They are clueless. Only a few months ago, it was clear that the Syrian army had unleashed chemical weapons against their own people. Somehow, the United States, along with the international community, came up with a peaceful solution to what was going to be an awfully complex problem. Now, Syria is handing over the chemical weapons and the unthinkable has happened. The United States and the European Union have together come to an agreement with Iran. Iran will stop enriching uranium. They will stop making nuclear weapons. Somehow, this doesn’t sound like the work of an inexperienced, novice foreign-policy team.

From WaPo:

The deal, intended as first step toward a more comprehensive nuclear pact to be completed in six months, freezes or reverses progress at all of Iran’s major nuclear facilities, according to Western officials familiar with the details. It halts the installation of new centrifuges and caps the amount and type of enriched uranium that Iran is allowed to produce. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2013-11-24T01:44:19-04:00November 24th, 2013|Iran, Obama administration|Comments Off