Originally posted in Delaware Liberal by Progressive Populists on December 28.
Well, maybe living in a Blue state is not all its cracked up to be
after all. I now read that Senator Coons has signed onto the Menendez
bill with some of the worst the Republican party has to offer to mess
with the Iran peace/nuke disarmament recipe.
I was taught that
Congress has an advice and consent role with foreign policy, not a
micro-management involvement. Yes, he's a member of the Foreign Affairs
Committee. But after President Obama and Secretary Kerry have come up
with the first potential breakthrough in our troubled relationship with
Iran, he feels they need extra help? Come on now, they've done amazing
work here after years of "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" refrains emitted from
the mouths of the all too meddling Republican party.
Let the
Administration do its work. Let them play out this welcomed initiative
before you and your kitchen mates foul up the recipe. Those of us who
served our country in the military don't need this ill timed coupe
you're engaged in to cause the new regime in Iran to wonder who is in
charge of negotiations from the U.S.A, empowering our own war mongers to
go for a kill here.
Iranians have plenty of evidence of
historical confusion about U.S. policy with them. They well remember
our CIA's role in the 50's in overthrowing their hard earned first
attempts at democracy. Again in the 70's they remember our invitation
to the Shah and his court who pillaged Iran's coffers, to live out his
last days in the U.S. after being ousted. And again in the 80's when
Republicans sabotaged President Carter's peaceful efforts to retrieve
our hostages for Reagan to win the U.S. Presidency. Not also to forget
the Iran/Contra crime by the Reagan administration. Not a great track
record, eh? They really are wondering who is running the kitchen here
and now you and your R buddies are about to screw it up again.
The
sanctions we have going there, relaxed a bit for these breakthrough
negotiations, are for policy change aims in Iran, not punishment.
Menendez wants to reduce further Iranian oil sales with a global oil
boycott in 2015. And, institute bans in engineering, mining and
construction industries, all of which is fuel for the modernization of
their economy. Tell me this, Senator Coons. What do international oil
politics have to do with these proposed sanctions? You are well aware
of Iran's designs for gas pipelines across the middle east in
competition with Bush's buddies, the Saudis.
Also other trade
politics figure in here including Iran's enhancing its relationship with
India and Iraq. Iran can be positioned through a peace/nuke
disarmament deal to become a much bigger power in the middle east and
Af/Pak region, further diminishing the house of Saud.
Or is it
AIPAC's and Israel's justified paranoia about Iranian nuclear weapon's
development ? It appears your President and Secretary of State have a
pretty good handle on stemming that threat through these negotiations.
And certainly Israel's paranoia is informed by their own undisclosed
nuclear weapons stockpile, somehow being exempt from the world's nuke
disarmament movement.
So, Senator, give us the real rationale behind your recipe for spoiling the Iranian peace broth.
