Joe

THE IRAN DEAL IS TREASONOUSLY BAD This deal is a crime against America and the world. The deal between the United States and Iran. It is a complete capitulation, a surrender of everything, including American self-respect and honor. We are Iran's bitch, and every paragraph of this agreement -- read to reporters by a White House official -- makes it clear that not only did Iran win the war, but that we had to beg for peace. Let me show you. Let's go through it, paragraph by paragraph. In Paragraph 1, we promise to never threaten or use force against Iran, and we agree that Israel, though unnamed, may never use force against or in Lebanon, and that its troops must leave and never return to Lebanese territory. In Paragraph 2, we promise to respect Iran's "sovereignty and territorial integrity," and to "refrain from interfering in" its internal affairs. That's a big change from our recent call for regime change and our encouragement of Iranians to rise up against their government. In Paragraph 3, the period for final negotiations is set at a "maximum" of 60 days, but is also indefinitely "extendible with mutual consent." That means Iran, which always drags negotiations out for years, will do so again and we will have no means of holding its feet to the fire. In Paragraph 4, we promise to completely remove our naval blockade within 30 days, and they promise to allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz "in proportion to the numbers of pre-war traffic." That means they don't have to allow unrestricted transit, and specifically limiting it to pre-war levels ignores the fact that the backlog of ships, oil, liquid natural gas and fertilizer in the Persian Gulf will temporarily require shipping far in excess of pre-war levels. And the flow of commercial products into the Gulf -- forbidden for four months -- will likewise require heavier-than-normal traffic into the Gulf. Also, in Paragraph 4, we promise to remove our military from "the proximity" of Iran with a month of the signing of the final deal -- meaning our Navy seemingly loses the right of free transit of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, and our bases across the Gulf and in nations bordering Iran are called into question. In Paragraph 5, Iran promises to let ships sail free of charge through the Strait -- for 60 days. After that, the implication is, it's not free. It also authorizes Iran to begin a process that seemingly leads to it and possibly others imposing tolls and fees on ships passing through the Strait -- something international maritime law forbids and which President Trump repeatedly assured the American people wouldn't happen. In Paragraph 6, I shit you not, the United States promises to create a $300 billion fund for "the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Further, the United States promises to remove all administrative and regulatory obstacles to such an arrangement. For context, Republicans like me have crucified Barack Obama for years for giving Iran $1.7 billion in 2015. In Paragraph 7, I further shit you not, the United States promises to end all sanctions imposed over years against Iran, including those imposed by the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. These sanctions have been imposed by Republican and Democratic administrations in an effort to punish Iran for killing Americans and for sponsoring international terrorism. U.N. sanctions were imposed for destabilizing order and promoting terrorism, and IAEA sanctions were imposed for deception about its nuclear-weapons program. But all that goes away now. It's almost like Iran didn't kill those 600 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in Iraq. In Paragraph 8, Iran promises not to buy or build a nuclear bomb. Kind of like it promised in 2015, after which it nonetheless continued to prepare materials for a nuclear bomb. The fly in the ointment in Paragraph 8 is the fact that Iran is a lying son of a bitch. Also in Paragraph 8 is the seeming laying of the ground work to "down-blending on site" of Iran's enriched uranium. See, they concentrated it, and now they say they might unconcentrate it, but they want to unconcentrate it "on site" in Iran, where they concentrated it in the first place, seemingly leaving the door open to them reconcentrating it in the future, like after they burn through the $300 billion. In Paragraph 9, I shit you not, we agree to maintain the nuclear "status quo." Until a final deal, they get to keep their enriched uranium and the program that produced it, and we can't put any sanctions on them or send any troops over. We bombed their program , and went to war over it, and now we concede that they can keep it and we won't raise a stink until the completion of this nebulous "final deal." In Paragraph 10, I absolutely honestly shit you not, we agree to immediately legitimize Iranian oil trade, removing all sanctions and allowing it to flow into the world marketplace in the light of day. Previously, they had to sneak it out in violation of American and international sanctions in rusty ships to dirt-bag countries like China and Cuba, where they got paid low-ball prices. Now they can make the big money. Of course, it's worth remembering, again, those oil sanctions were imposed because Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and it has a nasty habit of killing Americans every chance it gets. In Paragraph 11, I again absolutely honestly shit you not, we promise to release all "frozen or restricted (Iranian) funds and assets." This means every time they've killed a bunch of people and we've impounded their money -- Democrat or Republican presidents -- we forgive them now and they get it all back. And we don't even restrict to whom the money can go. If the First National Bank of Iran wants to give it right to Hamas or Hezbollah or the Revolutionary Guard, that's fine by us. In Paragraph 12, they promise to create some sort of "executive mechanism" to "monitor the successful implementation" of this ream job on the American people. In Paragraph 13, we try to remind them that after we give them every damn thing they could wish for we still want to talk about their nuclear dust. And in Paragraph 14, the pledge, "The final deal will be endorsed by a binding (United Nations Security Council) resolution." Which comes as a surprise to those of us who didn't know the United Nations was our boss. And who thought that treaties binding upon the United States had to be approved by a two-thirds vote of the United States Senate. So that is the agreement. We agree to withdraw our military and never threaten or use force against Iran, we allow it to control and toll the Strait of Hormuz, we remove 47 years of well-deserved sanctions, we legitimize its criminal oil industry, we unfreeze its assets, and we promise to give it $300 billion. In diplomatic terms, that's called taking it up the ass. Iran is a devil driven by a death cult of religious bigotry, and this agreement turns it loose, making it rich and unfettered, to the peril of Israel, the Gulf States, and any potential target of terrorism around the world which might catch its fancy. No doubt, some will say Trump is playing four-dimensional chess, or thinking seven or eight moves ahead. And maybe he is. Or maybe he's doing his best Neville Chamberlain impression and selling us and our allies down the river while empowering and enriching the most evil regime on the planet.