Monday, November 25, 2013
Historic US-Iran First Step
UPDATE BELOW
Congratulations to Secretary of State, John Kerry, and the US team that sealed the deal. More will have to be done, but this is an historic beginning.
Amir Owen at Haaretz:
Geneva deal seals Netanyahu’s legacy: An ineffectual leader:
The facts prove that all along, Netanyahu erred in his assessments and his policy. Those who said Iran would not have nuclear weapons before 2014 were right, as were those who strived to stop Iranian nuclear armament through non-military means — a mixture of dialogue and sanctions. If Netanyahu and Barak's plans between spring 2010 and spring 2011 had succeeded, Israel would now be dealing with the wounds of the first Iranian war and preparing for the second, while Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb would be about to finish restoring their nuclear program. [...]
The agreement with Iran will be carried out, over Netanyahu’s objections, because that is what the superpowers want. John Kerry, encouraged by the diplomatic success that began with Syria’s chemical disarmament, will not let go regarding the Israeli-Palestinian talks. The Likud leadership anticipates a diplomatic and political crisis next spring, with a divided party that will try to tie Netanyahu’s hands. If he wants to run again, as his ministers believe he does, he will have to become even more extreme and speed toward Obama on a collision course. This morning, in Switzerland, Netanyahu had his toy gun taken away.
In Basel, Herzl founded the state of the Jews, and in Geneva, Obama ended Netanyahu’s era.
h/t Daily Kos
From The Nation:
President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry signed the deal in explicit, full-frontal defiance of American hawks, neoconservatives and hardliners, the Israel lobby, and anti-Iran partisans in Congress. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and his team, backed by President Hassan Rouhani—elected in June with a mandate to do exactly this—have similarly defied their own country’s hardliners and skeptics, led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and by what Zarif calls Iran’s own Tea Party. And the United States struck the deal despite outright hostility, bordering on hysteria, from its two chief allies in the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
UPDATE:
For an excellent analysis of this historic first step, please read Infidel753's blog post on the subject. He knows a lot more than I do (and many others) about the complicated ME and how these negotiations work.
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14 comments:
Obama's successes with Syria and Iran stand in striking contrast to the horrible mess Bush made of Iraq -- especially since the latter's WMD program turned out not to even exist.
Rouhani deserves credit as well. He ran on a platform of mending relations with the West. This agreement couldn't have been accomplished if Ahmadinejad or someone like him were still in office.
From Infidel753's analysis: "...and Republicans are displaying their usual stupidity."
I already had one come by this morning only to trash, in typical cynical terms, the entire deal. This type of unenlightened comment is to be expected from those who know nothing about the ME but never fail to denigrate anything this administration accomplishes. on
The extreme right's been on the wrong side of history in all of the historic and progressive changes this country has realized.
They will lose the battle to repeal the A.C.A., and their hawkish stand on the recent developments between the US and Iran is wrong again.
The only thing they're consistent in is being wrong, spiteful, and out of step with the rest of this country and the community of nations.
Thanks for the link.
Republican big shots have been lining up to denounce the agreement -- Cantor and Cruz are the latest. I don't think the details of the actual deal even matter. It's all domestic politics with them -- attack Obama on any grounds available.
The republicans would have preferred war.
Beinart dismisses Netanyahu’s complaints:
If Netanyahu and company have no better strategy for preventing an Iranian nuke, why call Obama’s deal a Munich-style surrender? Because that’s their name for any diplomatic agreement that requires Western compromise. For Netanyahu and his American allies, it’s always 1938, because if it’s not 1938 and your opponents aren’t Neville Chamberlain, then you’re not Winston Churchill. And if you’re not Churchill, you’ve got no compelling rationale for wielding power.
We will see, or at put another way history will record the merits, or lack thereof of this deal.
I congratulate Kerry, Obama, and the Iranians for this effort. Now let us wait and judge 6, 12, 24 months hence.
Well, it can yet go sour, RN, no doubt.
Still, along with the reduction of chemical agents in Syria the administration is establishing itself as a reasonable broker in the area.
Now if he could make some progress in Egypt.
Now back to The Rush Limbaugh Show:
Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi
More thoughts on the US-Iran deal:
Sheera Frenkel reports on Bibi’s bluster:
“There is no doubt that Netanyahu is a big loser in the Iran deal,” said Gil Hoffman, political editor at the Jerusalem Post. “His whole political career is built on two things: number one is that he persuaded Israelis that only he could protect them from Iran, and number two is his image as someone who could speak to the world in his perfect English in a persuasive way better than any other Israelis. And here he failed.”
Anytime PBO pisses off Bibi, it's a good day for America.
the cons are howling at the moon again because Pres. Obama made a successful foreign policy move. They hate it when he accomplishes anything. And they'll hate it even more when the A.C.A. gets more Americans enrolled and happy.
Pass the popcorn.
http://rationalnationusa.blogspot.com/2013/11/iran-nuclear-deal-concern-expressed.html
Just a bit of balance Anon-Anon...
To understand why these negotiations with Iran represent a historic opportunity, it is instructive to recall events that defined U.S.-Iranian relations since the 1950s.
In 1953, American (CIA) and British (MI6) intelligence forces instigated the overthrow of Mohammed Mosaddegh, Iran’s first duly elected Prime Minister. Mosaddegh’s policy goals were the establishment of a constitutional democracy and the nationalization of Iran’s oil resources. Nationalization of the oil industry was the singular event that angered the British and inspired the coup against Mosaddegh.
In effect, Mosaddegh’s removal ended Iran’s first – and last - fully democratic government and gave unprecedented power to the Pahlavi monarchy, which ruled Iran with oppression and brutality through a secret police network known as Savak.
The U.S. role in Mosaddegh’s overthrow was kept secret for many years. In retrospect, it is now widely regarded as “paranoid, colonial, illegal, and immoral” and the leading cause of national resentments culminating in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 led by Ayatollah Khomeini.
In essence, it was a seriously misguided policy decision that created generations of Iranian enmity towards the U.S. We did this. We overthrew their government. We brought this anger and resentment upon ourselves. And you can better understand Iranian attitudes against this backdrop of history.
Most importantly, current negotiations give us an opportunity to right a historic wrong and work towards normalizing U.S.-Iranian relations.
Since the 1950s, Iranian demographics have changed dramatically. The current population is young, Internet savvy, and Western-oriented in terms of aspirations. More to the point, younger generations do not carry the historical memories and resentments of their forbearers. In time, this generation will take over and alter the future course and direction of Iran. That is why it is vitally important to pursue a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear program. Any military option would seal this enmity through the end of time.
Netanyahu is a neo-conservative and a militarist whose views are simply wrong. Perhaps Shimon Perez said it best: “The people of Iran are not Israel’s enemies, and the people of Israel are not Iran’s enemies.” This time, I hope the voices of reason prevail.
I call that foreign entanglement. What webs we weave.
PS, the Iranian people are bright hard working people. They don't hate the USA, many aspire to our freedoms. I know, from association with first generation Iranian Americans. They perhaps don't understand us. but they don't hate us. Well, except for the radicalized Islamists, which I admit to not personally knowing any.
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