This is a great speech by Obama on the subject. Takes about an hour. . http://www.c-span.org/video/?327464-2/president-obama-remarks-iran-nuclear-agreement Of course the credit should go to Kerry. A magnificent job of negotiating. This deal is like taking a trade where if you don't make a profit you lose nothing, and if you do make a profit you hit the Jackpot. THERE IS A HUGE BENEFIT TO RISK RATIO. We should bill Israel for our cost of negotiating. They are the big winners! This is a win for everyone except the U.S. defense industry and body bag manufacturers, with all kinds of short and long term benefits. Kudos to Kerry!!! A magnificent achievement in diplomacy all the way round!!!
First let me say thank you for posting this - it is interesting. Second let me state that I believe that Kerry is a much better Secretary of State than Clinton. Third let me state from a broad perspective a reasonable nuclear agreement with Iran is a better alternative than continued conflict and sanctions. However the problem I have with the current agreement is that it effectively immediately lifts sanctions on Iran while providing nearly no viable framework for compliance. It effectively frees up funds for Iran to continue funding terrorism in the region while not enacting controls that will force Iran to stop military nuclear development. My prediction is that in about 5 years Iran will tell the world that they will no longer comply with any of the agreement terms and then tell the U.N. - "What are you doing to do about it?"... which point the world will fold over. About a year after this we will have a full blown war in the Middle East involving Iran and Israel hurdling weapons at one another.
I hope your prediction does not come true, and I seriously doubt that it will simply because it would not be in Iran's interest. Obama said in his speech that sanctions would be lifted only after Iran takes certain initial steps. He also characterized the agreement as the strongest non-proliferation agreement ever negotiated. It will subject Iran to 24/7 monitoring. I haven't heard all of Obama's foreign policy addresses, but this one he delivered at the American University is the most detailed and logically reasoned that I have ever heard any American President deliver. I think this agreement with Iran is the best and most important achievement of his entire Presidency. I agree with you re Kerry. In fact I'll go further to say that I believe history will judge him as among the most effective Secretaries of State in the Country's history. The agreement has zero downside and tremendous potential benefits for all of us, particularly Israel. We preserve all our options if Iran falls short! Let's hope we don't have to fall back on them. I doubt we will. Rather I am quite sure that this agreement will be the beginning of much improved relations among Iran, the western nations and Israel.