But what good is that leverage if you aren't willing to trade it for the nuke program? As this deal does. Maybe I've missed it but I've yet to see you, or really anyone who is against this deal, put forward any alternative that does better.
They traded the only leverage they had for a promise....from someone who has broken promises time and time again. It just seems naive.
And now we are finding out that, de facto, the Iranians are in charge of inspecting themselves. The IAEA agreement with Iran stipulates that the Iran will supply the samples, photographs, etc. because no one, including the IAEA, will be allowed in their Parchin nuclear facility -- or any other on Iranian soil. That's like telling a rival football coach that he can referee all of his games while getting millions of dollars for each victory he delivers for his team. And you guys keep telling me Obama is not a closet Muslim.
Warning: this may be the dumbest thing you've ever read. This is not from The Onion, however. Worst. Deal. Ever. UN to let Iran inspect alleged nuke work site Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press... Said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce: "International inspections should be done by international inspectors. Period." The newly disclosed side agreement, for an investigation of the Parchin nuclear site by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, is linked to persistent allegations that Iran has worked on atomic weapons. That investigation is part of the overarching nuclear-limits deal... The agreement in question diverges from normal procedures by allowing Tehran to employ its own experts and equipment in the search for evidence of activities it has consistently denied — trying to develop nuclear weapons. Olli Heinonen, who was in charge of the Iran probe as deputy IAEA director general from 2005 to 2010, said he could think of no similar concession with any other country... Iran is to provide agency experts with photos and videos of locations the IAEA says are linked to the alleged weapons work, "taking into account military concerns." That wording suggests that — beyond being barred from physically visiting the site — the agency won't get photo or video information from areas Iran says are off-limits because they have military significance. Full Story: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-un-let-iran-inspect-alleged-nuke-165604071.html This is simply absurd. Just... Absurd. Ridiculous. They will literally inspect their own site and report their "findings" to the IAEA, minus photographic or video evidence. How anyone can think this is a good idea is beyond me. Whelp. At least we know where to bomb when the time comes.
So, let me get this straight. The IRANIANS will be in charge of directing the IAEA inspectors where to inspect for nuclear weapons development in Iran. THE IRANIANS GET TO BE IN CHARGE OF INSPECTIONS?!? The ONLY way you can think this is a fair/good deal for the United States is if you LITERALLY have your head up your ass.
They did not understand the difference. The AP story is also not new. The actual significant new part was striked out without explanation. Very strange of AP, but then again, I was reminded that the same reporter had a fake Iran nuclear article back in 02. Still, it would be interesting to know the exact "side" agreement. Of course, I would suspect that fact doesn't matter and now folks will continue to believe that this side agreement is in fact the Iran deal when it is not.
So again, international agreements is a zero in your book? LOL. The agreements that matter are those that are agreed upon.
Good grief, that is some powerful denial there. Read the goddammed story, this "side deal" - regardless of who it was worked out with - is NOT "fake"; as the congresscritters have apparently already been briefed on it. The Iranians will be handling all physical aspects of inspection at Parchin. How anyone can think that this is an acceptable inspections regime is mind blowing. How anyone can support our signing off on this crap sandwich is mind blowing. We've caved to every single demand they had and get nothing in return but a *possible* delay of their acquisition of nukes - assuming they don't cheat (and that's a mighty big assumption). They will get a massive influx of cash with which to support their terrorist operations abroad and their regional meddling, international legitimacy, and a lifting of the arms embargoes and restrictions on missile research and acquisition. We get... Iranian promises to behave, for as much as they're worth. Is it just blind Obama-worship that's driving this support, or are you guys really dense enough to think that this is a good deal? And BTW, this apparently isn't the only "side deal". Can't wait to see what the other one is.
Good ****ing lord, do you have a learning disability? This has nothing to do with Obama. He didn't negotiate this deal, he didn't agree to Iran policing itself. There is nothing to sign off on. This has nothing to do with Obama or the United States.
You are right. Obama did not negotiate the IAEA "agreement." He did abdicate his duties and responsibilities he owes to the United States to the United Nations strictly to achieve a foreign relations "legacy." However, his legacy, if history remembers us at all, will be the destruction of the America dream. As Town Marshall Thibideaux said in "The Shootist," what I (the American people) will do on Obama's grave won't pass for flowers.
Good ****ing lord, are you r****ded? Do you think this would be happening in a vacuum? Do you think this "side deal" would have been negotiated in the absence of the main deal? Of course not. The main deal essentially says "the particulars of the inspections process will be negotiated between the IAEA and Iran", and we DID agree to that. This is the result. Of course, your only real interest is defending Obama here, which is why you're focused on that. Obama-worship it is for you, then. I suspect that accounts for most of the support for this deal, because the merits of the deal suck.
Here's a better solution. Keep the sanctions in place, attempt to stall and disrupt their program with sabotage and other available means, continue to oppose their terrorist activities abroad, maintain the arms and ballistic missile embargoes, and generally keep the pressure on instead of pissing away your leverage and hoping for the best. And if/when that fails, turn Parchin, Natanz, and the rest of their nuke facilities into smoking craters. And do it again in a few years if you have to. Keep doing it until they get the point. What we are doing now will result in a significantly enriched terrorist state that will have greatly enhanced international legitimacy. It will also result in Iran having an effective breakout time of zero in 10 years, which means in 10 years they will have their nukes. Any deal that results in Iran gaining nukes is not a deal worth taking. A nuclear Iran is a nightmare scenario, and war - on our terms - would be preferable. War will be the result *either way*, and waiting until they have nukes is exactly the wrong way to go about it. Sometimes you don't get to avoid wars. The other guy always gets a say in the matter. We've been at war with Iran since 1979, sometimes hot and sometimes cold. Allowing them to get nukes - even 10 years from now - is not an acceptable outcome.
And BTW yes, I realize that this ship has sailed. This argument is academic at this point. As soon as the resolution passed at the UN, it was game over. Even a congressional veto override of a disapproval measure will be merely symbolic. The sanctions are gone, Iran will have their cash, the embargoes will be gone in a few years, and Iran is holding all the cards now. It's too late to change course. We should start preparing to deal with a nuclear Iran at this point, because Obama has made preemptive strikes vastly more difficult with this deal, regardless of how it plays out here at home. The Saudis, Egyptians, and Gulf buddies will all have to start looking after their own interests, likely seek nukes themselves. Obama's legacy will end up being either a ME with Iran as hegemon or a nuclearized region, neither of which are acceptable.
The bottom line for hawks. War the the first, second, and third option with diplomatic solutions landing outside the top ten. You do realize that to turn some of those sites into "smoking craters," you would have to use nuclear weapons, right?
AP is crap with the way they reported that article, corrected it without any note as to why. Too bad some folks do not understand anything and take it in stride because it fit nicely into their narrative. https://www.iaea.org/press/?p=5108
