Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Israeli security experts support the P5+1 world powers nuclear deal with Iran

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Many in the American media, like the Tea-Publican Party, would have you believe that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu speaks with one voice for all Israelis, neh, for all Jews in the world. This is absurd on its face.

There are a number of Israeli national security experts who have voiced support for the P5+1 world powers nuclear agreement with Iran. The American media allows Netanyahu and Republican critics in Congress to drown them out.

Think Progress reported Former Israeli Security Heads Support Iran Deal:

Iran-nuclear-deal-1024x576[W]hile Israel’s prime minister continues to fight the deal a collection of former Israeli security figures have come forward to say that things could be much worse.

“No agreement is ironclad, but the inspections provisions provide a high degree of confidence that Iran will not be able to renew the nuclear program without its being detected,” Chuck Freilich, a former deputy National Security Adviser in Israel, wrote in a New York Times op-ed published on Sunday and entitled A Good Deal for Israel. “A regime that has staked so much on this agreement will be reluctant to incur the costs.”

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John Kerry and Ernest Moniz: The case for the nuclear deal with Iran

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Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, a nuclear expert, published this op-ed in the Washington Post today, The case for the Iran deal:

Iran-nuclear-deal-1024x576When President Obama took office, he faced an Iran that had mastered the nuclear fuel cycle, had constructed a covert uranium enrichment facility inside a mountain, was on its way to installing nearly 20,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment, was developing advanced centrifuges and was building a heavy-water reactor that could produce weapons-grade plutonium. If Iran wanted to develop a nuclear weapon, it was already well down that road and the international community had little insight into its program. Against this backdrop the president vowed never to let Iran obtain a nuclear weapon.

The deal reached in Vienna this month is not only the best way to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon, it is the only durable and viable option for achieving this goal. This comprehensive diplomatic resolution has the unified support of the world’s leading powers. It extends the time Iran would need to develop a nuclear weapon, provides strong verification measures that give us ample time to respond if Iran chooses that path, and takes none of our options off the table.

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Republicans seek to undermine U.S. foreign policy towards Iran

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Iran-nuclear-deal-1024x576Neocons in the Republican Party, who reflexively oppose any agreement between Iran and the West, share something in common with the Islamic hard-liners in Iran. Iranian Hard-Liners Say Nuclear Accord Crosses Their Red Lines.

Their common interest was exemplified earlier this year with Sen. “Tehran” Tom Cotton’s letter signed by 47 Republican senators to the government of Iran. 47 GOP Senators Tell Iran They May Not Honor A Nuclear Deal. This stunt was too much even for the editors of The Arizona Republican. 47 senators stomp on the Constitution.

The government of Israel also opposes the Iran deal. Earlier this year, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an offer from House Speaker John Boehner to address the Congress shortly before elections In Israel, an unprecedented move not approved by the White House and against U.S. protocol. See Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institute, At What Price, Netanyahu?

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U.N. Security Council unanimously approves P5+1 nuclear agreement with Iran

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Iran-nuclear-deal-1024x576British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday that the world “would face Iran with a nuclear weapon” if six powers, including the U.S., had not struck a historic nuclear deal with Tehran. “I think it is so much better than the alternative. I think that if there wasn’t a deal, I think we would face Iran with a nuclear weapon,” Cameron said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” British Prime Minister David Cameron: Iran Deal ‘Better Than the Alternative’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has hailed the nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers as “an important success.” Germany’s Merkel calls for speedy implementation of Iran deal.

This morning the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council, of which the “P5” powers — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China — are permanent members, unanimously approved the P5+1 nuclear agreement with Iran. UN Security Council endorses Iran deal.

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The Perpetual War Party wants its war with Iran

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I have noticed that the mainstream media — particularly disturbing is PBS which really  ought to demonstrate better judgment — has trotted out the Neocon architects of the Bush-Cheney regime’s unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq and illegal torture program to comment on the P5+1 world powers nuclear agreement with Iran.

NurembergTwo quick points. First, these unindicted war criminals should not be given legitimacy by giving them a seat at the table to discuss the nuclear agreement with Iran. They have forfeited any right to speak by virtue of their war crimes. The only time I want to hear from these Neocons is under oath before a Nuremberg-style war crimes tribunal (there is no statute of limitations for war crimes).

Second, if the feckless media is going to give them a seat at the table anyway, it should preface their remarks with a litany of their failures war crimes in Iraq, and make a full disclosure that these Neocons are actively engaged in seeking the next war with Iran. If the media is not going to inform the public, then do not invite these Neocons to appear on your network programs. Otherwise, the media is, once again, a complicit accessory to war crimes (and the media is also liable to prosecution under the Nuremberg Principles.)

Matt Yglesias at Vox.com has a pair of posts explaining GOP opposition not just to to the Iran agreement, but to negotiations with Iran at all, in pursuit of their desired goal for war with Iran. Why Iran hawks can’t be honest about why they hate the Iran deal:

Iran hawks displeased with the nuclear deal struck between Iran, Russia, China, the United States, and the European Union have an awful lot of complaints. But if you look closely at what they are saying, you’ll notice something funny. They don’t actually have any arguments about what Obama has done wrong or how a different administration would park the situation in a better place. What they have instead are a lot of talking points, MacGuffins, red herrings, and distractions that aim to divert attention from the core issue — hawks’ desire to avoid diplomacy and have a war.

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