
Secretary Kerry Sits With Fellow Foreign Ministers and Political Directors from EU, P5+1, as well as Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif Following Negotiations About Future of Iran's Nuclear Program
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The US and the European Union finally lifted the oil and financial sanctions on Iran over the weekend releasing some $100 billion of its assets.
International inspectors confirmed Iran was in compliance with the negotiated agreement reached in July with Iran and the P5+1 so the Obama administration and Europeans lifted the sanctions.
In reality, the sanctions were bogus to begin with because Iran wasn't pursuing a nuclear weapon. This was confirmed in 2008 by all 17 US intelligence agencies agreeing Iran ceased development of a nuclear device in 2003.
However this being the US even though Iran was permitted to develop a peaceful nuclear program as a signee to the nuclear non proliferation treaty, long standing demonization and suspicion of Iran-despite all the evidence to the contrary compiled by US intel agencies-compelled the US to cajole others on the UN Security Council to place economic sanctions on Iran over its "suspected" development of a nuclear weapon.
So now with sanctions lifted and Iran in complete compliance one would reason diplomacy with Iran actually worked and would be greeted enthusiastically.
But au contraire here in synopsis are some of the reactions to the Iran nuclear deal by those Republicans and Democrats running for president.
As for the Dems. Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley they're pretty much in agreement supporting the deal as is Hillary Clinton though she says, "We still have to carefully watch them...sure they are truly going to implement the agreement...and we have to go after them on a lot of their other bad behavior in the region causing enormous problems in Syria, Yemen and Iraq". Ah thank you Hillary for that most nonsensical assessment of who is" causing the enormous problems", certainly not Saudi Arabia, Turkey, certainly not "us". Please.
Wait it gets better. Here's some of the Repubs. responses some going back to when the deal was initially agreed to. Ted Cruz "Our enemies are laughing at us, sets a bad precedent, Obama willing to negotiate with America's enemies". Then saying, he'd "abandon the deal and rip it to shreds on the first day he was president". Same with Marco Rubio "if Congress fails to reject it." Jeb Bush it's a "very naive deal...appeasement". Iran "remains a major destabilizing force in the region". Rand Paul we're "going to have to watch them like a hawk". Carly Fiorina "Iran has a long term plan to gain a nuclear weapon." The "Donald" has castigated the deal for months with "It's a bad one, incompetently negotiated". Ben Carson, "It's fatally flawed and jeopardizes national security". Then here's Chris Christie, "Obama lives in fantasy land on Iran". If elected, "The Iranian's wouldn't think they could steal our lunch money every day which is what they are doing". This last supposed "analogy" by Christie was left for last intentionally but is reflective of the buffoonery that best describes this cast of non entities.
What's remarkable-probably unremarkable considering the influence of big money corrupting the electoral process-none of the candidates, Dems. or Repubs. acknowledge America's sinister dealings with Iran beginning of course with the CIA instigating the coup in Iran in 1953 overthrowing the legitimately elected government of Iran. That coup brought the Shah Pahlavi to power, bringing harsh repression to the people for the next 26 years until the Iranian people rose up in their 1979 revolution overthrowing Pahlavi's regime.
For sure the taking and holding US embassy personnel was an excessive, retaliatory overreaction in 1979 to what occurred in 1953-which all Iranian's knew was perpetrated by the CIA. But the taking of US embassy hostages set in motion the demonizing of Iran ever since. Dubya Bush incongruently named Iran as a member of the "Axis of Evil" in 2002 along with Iraq and North Korea.
None of the candidates for president acknowledge all 17 US intel agencies concurred in 2008 Iran ceased any development of a nuclear device in 2003.
And none recognize the American "Stuxnet" computer worm that temporarily interrupted Iran's legal processing and enrichment of uranium in 2010.
These illegally authorized US events against Iran don't get publicized by any of the candidates, the MSM or acknowledged by the US government and reported to the American people. Such acknowledgement would be in direct conflict with "official" demonization of Iran, an enemy that supports terrorism, supports the Syrian government of Bashar Assad along with the fake notion of Iran developing a nuclear weapon.
What Americans do get about Iran are "assertions"-Congress, talking heads, MSM-all made without proof, demonization as an "enemy", fear mongering, indoctrination and pure propaganda-which when looked at closely isn't just Repubs. but Dems as well.
So as was said earlier one would think this negotiated, diplomatic agreement with Iran will be received enthusiastically as a positive development, hopefully by the majority of American people.
However if they've swallowed all the "kool-aid" propaganda about Iran and fail to embrace this deal...big trouble is all but assured and it won't be the Iranian's who will be at fault.
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