Rand Paul: The GOP Iran Letter Puts Obama In A 'Position Of Strength'

[DonViejo]

he Obama administration may be livid over freshman Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-AR) open letter to Iran, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Friday that he believes the letter actually gives the president a boost in nuclear negotiations with that country.

Cotton's letter warned Iran's leaders that any nuclear deal they strike with the Obama administration could expire as soon as the president leaves office. But Paul, a potential 2016 Republican presidential contender, said he added his name in order to put pressure on the Iranians that would result in the U.S. crafting a better deal.

"I want the president to negotiate from a position of strength," he said at a town hall event in Manchester, N.H., as quoted by Bloomberg Politics. "I want him to be able to go to the Iranians and say, 'Congress is going to have to vote on this, because Congress put these sanctions in place. To remove them, Congress will have to vote on it, so you will have to give up more.'"

Paul made similar comments earlier this week at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, although he added that he signed the letter in part because he thought Obama "doesn't care or understand the separation of powers."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rand-paul-iran-letter-gives-obama-strength

[Scootaloo]

1. Rand paul, being an isolationist nativist, clearly does not know how sanctions work

The US can keep its sanctions in place. It won't matter to Iran once other nations drop theirs. in fact it will weaken the US, by revealing us as a bad faith actor.

[Thinkingabout]

2. Yes, Obama is in a position of strenght, he was also before the letter.

Paul proves again spin sounds good to libertarian and Republican ears.

[hifiguy]

3. This cretin should go out and buy a toupee with some brains in it.

What he has now ain't working.

[truebluegreen]

4. Nice attempt at spin, "doctor."

The only thing that letter did was push Iran toward the conclusion that A) the United States is not to be trusted; and B) as a corollary of (A) they should hurry up and build a nuclear bomb...to be safe.

Fecking idiots.

[gratuitous]

6. Indeed

Of the countries that the Dim Son identified as the Axis of Evil (Remember that bit of doom and gloom?), we invaded Iraq, left Iran on the back burner "for later" (which time is fast approaching), and kept a strict "hands off" policy toward North Korea. Now that we're getting on toward the time that it's Iran's turn in the barrel, the Iranians are thinking about what put Iraq on the PNAC hit list while keeping North Korea safe.

Hard to argue with Iran if they concluded that having nuclear weapons is preferable to not having them, national security-wise. It's certainly a big part of the argument the United States uses for keeping a massive stockpile of nuclear weapons.

[Thor_MN]

7. The Rug Doctor is steaming mad at dirt.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. Oh snap!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

5. Trying to walk back your douchebaggery Paul?

Nice try but no dice.