Iran Refresher

Ten years ago I wrote four posts about the Iran Nuclear Deal.  Thought I'd relink to them given current events.

The Iran Deal: It Was Never About Nuclear Weapons in which I analyze the negotiations, the actual contents of the JCPOA (yes, I read the whole thing), and the underlying agenda of the Obama administration.  It also includes the conclusions of a number of prominent Democrats.

He's At It Again about the rhetoric employed by the president in support of the agreement.

Let's Not Forget About the Iran Nuclear Deal discussing progressive Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu's analysis of why the JCPOA was a bad deal.

What Is The Iran Deal?  Turns out it was not a treaty, nor an executive agreement, a signed document, or legally binding.  It was, in John Kerry's words, simply a political commitment.

For an assessment of the current situation, today's Tablet Magazine carries an interview with a former IAEA inspector regarding Iran's nuclear facilities, Can Israel End Iran's Nuclear Program?   Having reached this point, the only way out is to do so by whatever means necessary (though I want Israel to do this without direct American involvement).

I'll also link to a piece I wrote in January 2020, Reflections On The Middle East Wars, which includes some additional comments on Iran.  Since writing it, I've done additional research which would lead me to add material to the Iraq section, though I knew the basics at the time and should have made the point more clearly.  If I were doing that post today I would emphasize in addition to the intelligence failures, the absolute disaster of the Bush administration when it came to post-war planning and defining goals.  I was not impressed with George W Bush during the 2000 campaign but felt reassured on the foreign policy side with Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Powell leading the team.  I viewed them as sober, experienced politicians.  What a mistake!  Cheney went nuts, Rumsfeld was irresponsible, and Powell employed passive-aggressive behavior throughout.  They were never in agreement about the decision to attack Iraq or what to do afterwards while National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice failed miserably in what should have been her role in reconciling those views and coming to some time of agreement.  And the ultimate responsibility was President Bush's in going to war with no clear sense of goals or plan for the aftermath, other than fantasies about Iraq's future.  The failures of the foreign policy establishments of both parties after the ending of the Cold War is a cautionary tale and one of the reasons Trump ended up as president.