The bill to give the US Congress “veto power” over the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran was already a recipe for killing the negotiations. A flurry of amendments aimed at making the bill even more hostile toward diplomacy, however, is setting off a fight and threatens to derail the entire bill.
S
enate hawks Tom Cotton (R – AK) and Marco Rubio (R – FL) are driving a series of efforts to force immediate votes on some of those most contentious amendments, including Rubio’s demand that Iran endorse Israel as a Jewish state, and Cotton’s demand that Iran agree to give inspectors unrestricted access to the entire country, and not just its nuclear program, as conditions for the deal.
Rubio in particular was furious that the Israel bill wasn’t at the front of the line for votes, despite AIPAC openly opposing it, and claimed votes against the bill were votes against Israel’s right to exist.
Ironically, while the White House had been resigned to a veto-proof majority of the bill, and had promised to sign it, these crazier amendments are scaring off parts of that majority, and also renewing veto threats against the bill itself.
In between visits to Congress to rail at Senate Democrats for not endorsing his amendments, Sen. Cotton also picked a fight with Iran’s Foreign Minister on Twitter, claiming all Iranians to have a “cowardly character” because FM Javad Zarif wasn’t living in Iran at the time of the Iran-Iraq War.
I take it this Cotton moron is vying for the position of israel's favorite catamite in the Senate.
Rubio seems to be doing the same.
Sen. Cotton? You plane for the Fallujah airdrop is ready, sir.
"claiming all Iranians to have a “cowardly character”
How not to win friends and influence people. How can someone as ignorant and arrogant as Cotton ever manage to get elected in the first place? What does he hope to achieve by insulting an entire nation?
Money… He wants Sheldon Adelson and the other Israeli money men to open his checkbook in Cotton's direction.
And BTW, Mr. Ditz (or whomever is doing the transcription and cut-and-pasting…Cotton is from Arkansas and the abbreviation for Arkansas is "AR" not "AK" which is the abb for Alaska.
And all United States senators have a meretricious character well beyond shame.
These people are so vile and sick!!
The nation and its congress face a simple question: is it better to negotiate a peaceful solution with Iran and its allies or to commit to an inescapable trajectory toward war, possibly even WWIII.
Which is in OUR best interest? These men hold office to serve our interests. Can we get an amendment demanding that both Israel and its puppets here recognize America's right to exist, our right to do what is in our best interest?
I won't bother with the "t" word and just say these faux patriots betray the office and the people they are supposed to serve.
Don't forget that, whatever happens, this is a win-win deal for Iran. It has agreed to the deal and the mere fact that the Israel Lobby kills it will not change that. Indeed, if the Lobby does kill the deal, it will be a disaster for Israel, as it will be blaimed for the failure. No matter what happens now, sanctions will not be re-imposed. If for no other reason, that's thanks to Putin. The EU needs alternative sources of oil and gas. Thus, the deal, even if the Lobby blocks it, is also win-win for the EU. All this is the consequence of the ever-widening ripples from Nuland's Ukrainian blunder. She tried to use Putin as a weapon to attack the EU. Then she panicked and screwed things up by overthrowing Yanukovych. Then Putin panicked and screwed things up some more by grabbing Crimea, thereby, in practice, double-crossing his neocon backers. Then the neocons screwed up by holding back Obama so as to protect Putin, thereby discrediting NATO and hugely strengthening the EU. Then ISIS saw America running for home with its tail between its legs and seized the opportunity. Then the Houthi did likewise. Then Iran jumped on the bandwagon. Now, the Israel Lobby's attempt to block the Iran deal, even if it fails to do so, will discredit both Israel and the Lobby in the eyes of the world and not least American eyes. And they're still stuck with Putin! To paraphrase Churchill, never has so much been screwed for so many by so few!
The US is deploying missiles in Romania and Poland and on 32 ships in the Mediterranean "to defend us from Iran". That fairy-tale BS which the Russians can't possibly believe, is the real problem. Missiles in Poland and Romania "to defend us from Iran" ??!!? Unfortunately, it leads to Launch On Warning=Suicide Guaranteed in 2-3 years. For that reason the great missile engineer Bob Aldridge -www.plrc.org resigned and wrote The Counterforce Syndrome, First Strike! The Pentagon's Strategy For Nuclear War (also available in German, French and Danish), Nuclear Empire (ch. 9 on Anti-Submarine Warfare), and recently America in Peril. Suicide in 2-3 years because of the stupid, aggressive, crazy people in Pentagon/Washington. Aiming to achieve a Disarming First Strike Capability is Suicidal Insanity. I refer to Ray McGovern of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.