A $9 Trillion War? Top 10 Reasons Americans will Regret it if GOP Derails Iran Negotiations

[unhappycamper]

http://www.juancole.com/2014/02/trillion-americans-negotiations.html

A $9 Trillion War? Top 10 Reasons Americans will Regret it if GOP Derails Iran Negotiations
By Juan Cole | Feb. 7, 2014

40 Republican senators are making a last-minute push to bring further Iran sanctions up for a vote despite the opposition of senate majority leader Harry Reid. Some 59 senators signed on to a plan to increase sanctions during President Obama’s negotiations with Iran, which Iranian leaders have argued could derail the talks. Among the steps these Republicans favor is reversing the minor easing of sanctions implemented by Obama as a quid pro quo to Iran for steps it has taken to make its nuclear enrichment program more transparent and less amenable to weaponization (Iran says the program is purely for civilian purposes).

It is absolutely outrageous and very rare that Congress would interfere in diplomatic negotiations of the president. They let Bush go around invading countries but won’t let Obama try to forestall a war.

The GOP is acting for its own reasons, since it wants to take the senate in the fall and thinks making vulnerable Democrats explicitly vote against further Iran sanctions will hurt them with the public. But the further sanctions have been pushed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, other Israel lobbies, and the far right wing Israeli government of Binjamin Netanyahu, and some of the impetus for further pushing them likely is coming from AIPAC donors (who skew much further to the right than the mainstream of the American Jewish community– which after all contains many peace activists).

~snip~

Of course the hawks (i.e. war criminals waiting to happen) might profit from such a conflagration. But it will be working Americans and small businesspeople who will pay the price of a consequent economic meltdown that will make 2008 look like a cakewalk.

[yeoman6987]

1. Ugh

Why can't Republicans give this a try and see if President Obama's plan works. It hasn't even been 6 months yet. Also what does it mean that 59 Senators signed on a plan to increase sanctions? Does that mean that Democrats are trying to ruin the plan too? Iran has been a hornets nest for decades (at least). Can we please just try President Obama's plan for awhile to see if it works before trying to screw it up?