Iran: No deal reached, only framework; Iran can still enrich

Congrat to Congress doing something productive. Now let's see where this goes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/us/senators-reach-deal-on-iran-nuclear-talks.html

 

Which is a nice conspiracy theory and all, but it ignores the fact that we were independently friends with the Yemeni government regardless of our relationship with Saudi Arabia.

It's like saying if Germany is attacked, we would defend them because we're friends with England. It ignores the fact that we're friends with Germany too.

We regularly are on the opposite side of Saudi on a number of things. The Iran deal, for example, puts us squarely on the opposite side of both Saudi Arabia and Israel - kind of messes up the whole theory.

 

Interesting article...

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Secu...ts-for-Iran-highlights-a-broader-agenda-video

 

There are not enough smiley sarcastic emoticons on the entire internet.....

 

Prepare for unanimous Republican disapproval of any deal he negotiates.

 

Clearly this doesn't belong in this thread but....

Glynch the Saudis have helped out the Americans before and have usually tried to keep oil prices low (for better or worse) at the expense of their relations with OPEC and Arab nations.

Here's a good article to read if you want to get an idea of how the Saudis work. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-12/saudi-arabia-s-plan-to-extend-the-age-of-oil

Further Glynch it should be noted that under Obama we are importing about 60% less oil from OPEC. In fact almost all of the reduction in oil imports has come at the expense of OPEC.

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMXX1&f=M

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MTTIMUS1&f=M

In January 2008 we imported about 420 million barrels of oil.
In January 2015 we imported about 291 million barrels of oil.

In January 2008 we imported about 199 million barrels of oil from OPEC.
In January 2015 we imported about 79 million barrels of oil from OPEC.

We are bought 129 million barrels less and 120 million barrels less from OPEC. We are sending a pretty clear message here that we don't really need OPEC oil.

We import as much oil from the Saudis as we do from Mexico. Are we subordinated to Mexico too?

 

not sure bringing up Mexico is a great point given how the DEA has been so deeply involved in the dirty war down south

But the Saudis do more than export oil: they have inordinate influence on OPEC as you mentioned and they buy a lot of arms from America. They're also the bulwark against Iran's influence. Their relationships with other nations such as Russia drive global geopolitics on a scale Mexico never will. I don't think it's a fair comparison or a useful proxy for subordination to the Sauds.

 

I wonder. Somehow I doubt all Republican congressmen have the courage to torpedo a foreign policy deal of this magnitude.

 

The point was that we get as much oil from Mexico as we do from the Saudis.

They are important on a global scale, but not as important for our energy resources as people would like to think. We get 5 times as much oil from Canada. If Venezuela and Mexico ever got their acts together we would be importing much more oil from them than the Saudis.

We aren't subordinated to the Saudis. If we were then our support for Israel would be non-existent. Glynch's post is even more ridiculous when you consider that.

 

Obama fail

 

I didn't think the Republicans would deliberately torpedo the American economy to keep a Democrat president from looking good, then 2009 happened.

 

Ha - they don't care about anything but scoring political points.

 

If I understand correctly, the beauty of the new bill is that it doesn't matter. They can vote to not remove sanctions, but Obama can veto that. You'd need 67 Senators to stop a deal. The original setup required Congress to actually remove the sanctions themselves, so you'd need 60 to vote in favor. I think this is why Obama was suddenly on board with Congressional "approval".

 

Going back to the earlier discussion, here's an example where chaos benefits terrorists and why the US is supporting Saudi against the rebels. The rebels force the government out, but they can't govern themselves, so AQ and ISIS have an opportunity to insert themselves into the mix.

That said, the longer this goes, the more pointless US support becomes. It only helps if the original government can be restored and actually get control of the whole country fairly quickly. If there are areas in rebels' hands and continued fighting, terrorists will entrench themselves and make it hard to clear them out (ala Iraq and Syria).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/16/al-qaeda-yemen-airport_n_7078816.html


Al Qaeda Captures Major Airport In Southern Yemen, Officials Say


SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen consolidated control over much of the country's largest province on Thursday, capturing a major airport, an oil terminal and the area's main military base, and striking an alliance with local tribal leaders to administer the region.

The gains highlight how al-Qaida has exploited the chaos in Yemen, where Shiite rebels are battling forces loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. A 3-week-old Saudi-led air campaign in support of Hadi has so far failed to halt the rebels' advance.

Military officials and residents said al-Qaida fighters clashed briefly with members of one of Yemen's largest brigades outside Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, which the militants overran earlier this month. The militants then seized control of Riyan airport and moved to secure their hold on the city's main seaport, which is also an oil terminal.

 

The Saudis thumbing their noses at the US.

 

It's been about a month since anyone commented on this. Has there been any actual progress or is there still just a "framework"?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Obama win a Nobel peace award for his strong stance against nuclear weapons? I take it Iran is not going to allow UN weapon inspectors to roam freely through their science facilities and what not.