Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Thursday, August 13, 2015

The Iran Deal: Listen to the Generals









Dozens of retired generals, admirals back Iran deal 
Source: Washington Post 
By Karen DeYoung 
August 11 at 3:09 PM 

 Three dozen retired generals and admirals Tuesday released an open letter supporting the Iran nuclear deal and urging Congress to do the same. 

 Calling the agreement “the most effective means currently available to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” the letter said that gaining international support for military action against Iran, should that ever become necessary, “would only be possible if we have first given the diplomatic path a chance.” 

 The release came as Secretary of State John F. Kerry said U.S. allies were “going to look at us and laugh” if the United States were to abandon the deal and then ask them to back a more aggressive posture against Iran. Not only would U.S. global credibility be undermined, Kerry said, the dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency would be threatened.






Jonathan Alter
The Daily Beast
Ex-Intel Chief: Iran Deal Good for Israel 

Yes, it’s true: If Obama can toughen the penalties for cheating and pivot to confronting Iran’s support for terrorism, he will enhance Israel’s security. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes the Iran nuclear deal is a “stunning historical mistake.” Meanwhile, Israel’s opposition Labor Party, Republicans here at home, and much of the American Jewish community are joining him in denouncing the agreement signed last week. But many former senior intelligence and national security officials in Israel disagree. 

While they think the deal is flawed and that Netanyahu deserves credit for raising the alarm on Iran years ago, they also believe that the historic agreement is—on balance—in the national security interest of the State of Israel. 

 I spoke recently with Ami Ayalon, a former head of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, and a former chief of the Israeli Navy. Even as he explained that the issue “is not black and white,” he reeled off a list of former defense ministers and chiefs of Shin Bet and Mossad who agree with him that “when it comes to Iran's nuclear capability, this [deal] is the best option.”


From The Jerusalem Post:


Poll: US Jews more likely to back Iran deal than non-Jew


A poll showed American Jews are much likelier than non-Jews to back the Iran nuclear deal. The Los Angeles Jewish Journal poll published Thursday shows 49 percent of American Jews support the deal and 31 percent oppose it. 

Among all Americans, 28 percent support the deal and 24 percent oppose it. 

 Similarly, 53 percent of Jewish Americans polled want Congress to allow the deal to go ahead, while 35 percent want Congress to stop the deal. 

Among all Americans, the numbers are 41 percent wanting Congress to allow the deal and 38 percent supporting Congress should it kill the deal.


ISRAEL:


Israeli Validators for the Iran Agreement

9 comments:

Shaw Kenawe said...

To RD, DKJ, and my other frequent commenters,

Thanks for the emails and heads-up. But it bothers me not one wit because the people who are copying and pasting my posts and comments are nothing more than a bunch of tottering motley-minded malcontents! They are, after all, angry Tea-Pee-ers, the basest of the GOP base.

If it sends thrills up their legs to their nether regions (as it obviously does) to visit my blog every day and paste my work into those blogs, pity them. I recognize their odd behavior as a sort of mental illness, and caring about their loony antics would be like caring about what a box of rocks thinks or does.

Have a nice day! I surely am.

Dave Miller said...

Shaw, it would not matter if the Generals all said bomb Iran and Obama did it... He'd still be wrong in the eyes of the extremists...

This is a perfect example of him doing exactly what they advocate, ie listen to the military pros, and yet, as usual, they're not happy and unhinged...

Doctor Tomato said...

Shaw, it's pretty evident who's been copying and pasting your posts and comments on the winger blogs, it's that crazy guy who went berserk on the Smut Hut's blog and YELLED at everyone that he hoped they got cancer. He's the guy who thinks he's refined, but who is happy to mix it up with the low life racists, sexists, and anti-semites on that blog, they are despicable and the sort of creeps who would plagiarize your work. Something you'd expect from that crowd.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Rusty O.F.,

I get it. And I know what's going one with those loonies. But I don't want to engage in blog wars and I don't care what the intellectually challenged weirdos do. I let your comment in this one time, but prefer not to talk about people with severe personality disorders.

Thanks.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave, has there been anything, one thing that the far right has cooperated on with this president? Not that I can recall. So I'm not surprised that even though the military supports the Iran deal, they still are against it.

Dave Miller said...

Nice to see Shaw that it did not take long for my comments to be spread across other blogs.

I guess people choose not to comment here because they are unable to cogently argue a point without resorting to CAPS and vulgar language.

Obama is far from perfect, and has certainly been on the wrong side of some issues... no one here would argue differently, but to argue that everything he does is bad, or wrong, is as misguided and inaccurate as those who argued the same regarding Bush.

Infidel753 said...

Our top nuclear scientists also support the deal with Iran. In fact, most of those with actual relevant expertise are supporting it. The only people against it are the ideological fanatics who don't know anything about Iran or nuclear technology but reflexively oppose anything Obama does just because Obama's the one who did it.

.....And, of course, the equivalent fanatics in Iran who hold a similar fervent hatred for President Rouhani.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave,

Those people have taken it upon themselves to be particularly vicious with you, attacking you because you do missionary work for the poor and because you hold a different point of view from theirs. You have to view all their reactions to you as performance comedy, because essentially that's all it is. It certainly has no relationship to intelligent discourse.

I've repeated what you've said about Mr. Obama -- that he's not been perfect. I've disagreed with him and his administration on many policies. But he has been a loyal, loving husband and father, and his administration has been scandal free (both those things annoy the hell out of the far right loons) and that quite an accomplishment. What they've said about Mrs. Obama is misogynistic and sexist and racist. Things those people excel at.

I don't know if you know who Debbie Schlossel is (I heard about her on a news feed I subscribe to). After President Carter announced he had cancer she tweeted this:

Debbie Schlussel
‏@DebbieSchlussel
A cancer has cancer. Oops, I mean, Jimmy Carter has cancer. Same diff. #tcot #gop #JimmyCarter #ACancerwithCancer

Debbie Schlussel @DebbieSchlussel
Only the Good Die Young: Jimmy Carter, 90, Has Cancer. So Sad, Too Bad #tcot #gop #ACancerHasCancer #Jimmy Carter
6:33 PM - 12 Aug 2015


That's the type of thing one finds at those blogs where they attack you for being a decent and honorable man. Who would want to go near a blog that attracts that sort of offal.

Take care.

Ronnie's Ray Gun said...

OT but relevant:


"And so Donald Trump rolls on and on. The Republican Party has finally been whittled down to a base that craves spectacle, has no policy beliefs whatsoever other than that the people they don't like are wrong, cannot function without a steady supply of strange conspiracy theories hatched from God-knows-where, and is uninterested in the subtle racism of dog whistles compared to racism shouted through a megaphone.

All the Ted Cruzes, the Louie Gohmerts, the Michele Bachmanns, Steve Kings, Inhofes and Cornyns and Kobaches and Brewers have paved the way for this. The tea party, as a movement, was direct precursor to this.

And Fox News has sculpted a national audience tailored just for this, an audience that has been told for years that only extremism will do and that whoever is shouting the loudest is the one who is right. It is the ultimate expression of reality-bending, fact-denying, contentless and proudly contrarian f--k-you-all populism, proudly led by The Richest Celebrity On TV."

That and their unwavering pride in being racist, sexist, and anti-semitic. There's a lot of truth in what someone once said about keeping the population ignorant, and soon a rabble-rousing demagogue will arise and lead the people into disaster. Trump is the jackass they've been waiting for.