Schumer's praise of the mother of all non-nuclear bombs, calling the MOP "the best nuclear deterrent," explains why President Obama has likened the vote on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to the 2002 Iraq War Resolution and why he has framed the vote as a choice between war and peace. To Schumer the MOP is a "deterrent" but to the rest of us, to those listening to Obama's urgency, the MOP is more than a deterrent; it's a weapon the Israelis will want the US to unleash if Congress fails to support the Iran Nuclear Deal. According to The Guardian, even former President George Bush, the man who launched the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq, refused to go along with Israel's request to wage war on Iran.
Imagine the fall-out of a strike on the Fordow underground uranium enrichment facility. Toxic chemicals and radiation could spew for miles, thousands of Iranians might get sick and die, a Holy War could be declared throughout the middle east, US military bases might be blown up in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, oil fields could be sabotaged, stock markets crashed, global fear of a Third World War unleashed.
The thought of such a scenario should be enough to convince any reasonable mind that diplomacy is the path to security, but Schumer buckled under the pressure of 10,000 naysayer phone calls and angry protests outside his office.
In Schumer's opposition statement, he says he objects to the deal because the US cannot demand inspections unilaterally but must wait for a majority of the P5+1 nations (US., China, Russia, France, England, and Germany) to demand inspections, as well. Isn't joint cooperation the basis, however, of an international agreement? Schumer issues the same objection in regard to the snap-back provisions, arguing the US should be able to unilaterally re-impose sanctions for nuclear violations. He conveniently fails to mention the agreement allows all signatories to unilaterally impose non-nuclear related sanctions. Schumer objects to the 24-day delay in inspections of Iran's nuclear sites, but never once mentions that Israel, widely assumed to be a nuclear armed nation, prohibits UN inspections of its nuclear facilities and, unlike Iran, refuses to become a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that commits the signatory to split the atom only for peaceful purposes.
Anyone who doubts Schumer is a conflicted lover need only to read his statement, "... it seems to me (another "I believe" bit of second-guessing), when it comes to the nuclear aspects of the agreement within ten years, we might be slightly better off with it. However, when it comes to the nuclear aspects after ten years and the non-nuclear aspects, we would be better off without it."
Hello?
I thought this was supposed to be an agreement that dealt strictly with Iran's nuclear capability, eliminating two-thirds of Iran's current centrifuges and 98 percent of its enriched-uranium stockpile. No one ever said the deal was about anything else.
Apparently it is.
While Schumer said he would vote to disapprove of the Joint Comprehensive Agreement, he did not say he would vote to over-ride a Presidential veto.
Like any calculating lover, he wants to keep his options open.
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