The fast and furious nature of the #IranDeal is continuing in the all of the US Congress. On Tuesday, The US Secretary of the State and the US Secretary of the Treasury testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and received a scolding from members of Congress. One Congressman went as far as to question the Secretary of State's commitment to US Security. Secretary Kerry reminded him that he did not need a lecture from him because he's fought and served the United States ever since he got out of College. It must be noted that the Chairman of the Committee, Congressman Royce of California, is one of the staunchest critics of the deal in Congress.
The rhetoric that has arisen from the right in the United States has been heartbreaking. A leading Presidential Candidate, Mike Huckabee, said that the deal marched Israel close to the Oven--invoking the Holocaust. He claimed that Jewish Organizations supported this. Yet, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States called the comments inappropriate and others including an Israeli Minister reminded him that the State of Israel was established specifically to insure that such does not happen again. It was also quite interesting how Senator Cruz of Texas noted that this deal will mean that the Obama Administration will turn into the biggest sponsor of State Terrorism. Senator Rubio was aggressive in his stance in that the agreement will not be honored by the next US President.
Part of the dialogue is fueled by a very aggressive campaign led by AIPAC and others to scuttle the deal. AIPAC, for instance, is sponsoring a trip to Israel during the US Congressional Recess in order to help dissuade Members of Congress from a resolution of approval. What is also lost in all of this is the sentiment on the streets of Iran. Iran truly needs a sense of healing and this was beautifully underscored by an article in the New York Times recently. Iran is still trying to recover from the trauma of the 8-year war with Iraq. Just in July, a mass grave of 175 Divers were discovered who apparently were buried alive with their diving suits on during Operation Karbala in 1986 during an offensive to capture Basra. The funeral in Tehran was attended by thousands. Yet, there continues to be a concerted effort to clamour for war--as epitomized by Governor Walker's declaration that he would initiative military action on Day 1 of his Presidency.
In the meantime, though, the World is marching onward. The headline on +i24news EN read "Europe Goes to Iran":
The European Union Foreign Policy Chief's Trip to Tehran underscored this. The French Foreign Minister is also in Tehran and as we went to Press, he noted that President Rouhani has been invited to France in November for a State Visit.
As the debate over the #IranDeal continues, +Global Zero produced this clip on the stark choices:
Our team could not help but wonder if reason will prevail.
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