Lecturing Congress on passing the July 14 Iran duke deal, 54-year-old President Barack Obama got that lame duck feeling, now that the 2016 fireworks are set to begin tonight in Cleveland, Ohio with the first GOP debate. Fading from the political limelight, Barack has waning battles left, turning the Iran nuke deal into one of his last political stands. Signing Obamacare into law March 23, 2010 against 100% Republican objections, Barack burnt his bridges with the GOP on Capitol Hill. When Barack lost control of the Senate in 2012, he found his legislative agenda dwindling. Before Congress left for its traditional Summer recess, Barack warned GOP-controlled Congress Aug. 5 that a vote against the Iran nuke deal was a vote for a future war with Iran. When Barack agreed June 14 to let Congress approve or reject the Iran nuke deal, he left his political fortunes hanging in the balance.
Pushing back against Obama strong pitch in Congress, 73-year-old Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the president to stop “campaigning” in Congress for the Iran nuke deal. Left out on tonight’s Fox News debate stage, Obama has little left to accomplish in his 7th year in office. Working for two years with Secretary of State John Kerry on the Iran nuke deal, Obama has little in the legislative tank. “Demonize your opponents, gin up the base, get Democrats all angry and, you know, rally around the president. To me, it’s a different kind of issues,” said McConnell, trying to weigh out the national security significance of ending Iran’s sanctions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied hard to a joint session of Congress March 3 that the P5+1 nuke deal, including the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russian and China, hurts Israeli and regional national security.
Congress has heard mixed stories from the president and other domestic and foreign leaders. If you listen to the American-Israeli Public Affairs Council, you’d believe the Iran nuke deal harms Israeli national security. Friends of AIPAC on Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans, are trying to assay whether or not the agreement between Iran and U.S., Britain, France, German, Russian and China, benefits all sides or gives Iran a clear path to the bomb. While denying any interest in atomic weapons, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has warned that if the agreement isn’t ratified, Iran will push the pedal to the metal on its nuclear enrichment program. With Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad already declaring Iran and “nuclear state” Feb. 11, 2010, it’s doubtful Khamenei’s nuclear threats only relate of making reactor fuel or radioactive medical isotopes.
McConnell insists that Obama “is treating this [Iran nuke deal] like a political campaign,” attesting to the high stakes when Congress votes to approve or reject the deal Sept. 17. Opponents, led primarily by AIPAC and backed by GOP’s Capitol Hill hawks, insist that ending sanctions gives Iran more cash to build an A-bomb. Capitol Hill hawks believe Netanyahu’s argument that Iran intends to destroy Israel. With the Azeri Mullah Turks firmly in control of Iran’s power—and wealth—it’s doubtful they’d rock the boat by attacking Israel with or without nukes. Netanyahu often calls Iran an “existential threat” based on past statements by Khamenei and Ahmandinejad. Netanyahu could not point to any direct threat other that past hostile rhetoric to call Iran an “existential threat” to Israel. Proponents of the P5+1 agreement argue that Iran’s nuke program would but put under the U.N.’s Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] supervision.
McConnell and other Capitol Hill Republicans don’t want to hand Obama a foreign policy victory only a year out from the 2016 Election. Signing on to the Iran nuke deal would tell voters that country needs continuity with tObama’s foreign policy, only available from former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. With the economy growing under Obama’s economic policies, it’s doubtful the GOP can win in 2016 on domestic policy alone. GOP leaders, and their Superpac donors like the Koch Brothers, want to see a dramatic reduction in the scope and influence of the federal establishment. David Koch warned at a donors conference in Dana Point, Calif. Aug. 1 that “we’re done for” if the government doesn’t shrink in size. With federal jobs already scarce under GOP budget control, the GOP would continue eviscerate the federal workforce—the backbone of the middle class.
Obama’s forceful sales job in Congress on the Iran nuke deal irked Capitol Hill Republicans. “The president ought to treat this like a serious national security debate rather than a political campaign and tone down the rhetoric and talks about the facts,” said McConnell, inviting the president and Secretary of State John Kerry to take a different approach. McConnell needs to summon his GOP caucus to take an honest look at the P5+1 agreement. With all its shortcomings, including the questionable IAEA inspections routine, forcing Iran into an international agreement is better than letting the Persian nation continue to go rogue. Because the other P5+1 countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, intend to end Iran’s sanctions, it would be worthless for Congress to reject the pact. However much Obama oversells the agreement, it’s more valuable than not.
