Iranian nuclear deal: America abandons Israel on 9/11

President Obama can claim a political victory with the Iranian nuclear deal, while critics still denounce the move and the flood of money which would flow to Iran, who chants “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” days after the deal was struck. Now a 9/11 vote seems likely, officially changing our relationship with Israel, America’s strongest ally in the Middle East.

Senate Democrats delivered a major victory to the Obama administration when they blocked a Republican resolution to reject a six-nation nuclear accord with Iran on Thursday, ensuring the landmark deal will take effect without a veto showdown between Congress and the White House.

photo/Talmoryair

A procedural vote fell two short of the 60 needed to break a Democratic filibuster. It culminated hours of debate in the Senate and capped weeks of discord since the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China announced the agreement with Iran in July.

The decision is being framed as “take the deal” or war without any delay to evaluate the impact of the 150 billion headed to Iran as part of the deal, the impact of handcuffing America in support of Israel or the lack of leverage to keep the Iranians from being dangerous.

“Regardless of how one feels about the agreement,” Senator Chuck Schumer, one of four Democrats to vote against the deal, said on the Senate floor, “fair-minded Americans should acknowledge the president’s strong achievements in combating and containing Iran.”

Critics point out that Schumer’s objection gave the Senator cover with a high Jewish population in his constituency, knowing that the deal had the votes needed to move on with or without Schumer’s support.

“I also have a great deal of respect for the careful thought and deliberation my colleagues went through,” adding, “I recognize for them that this is a vote of conscience just as it is for me.”

“President Obama can claim that he found a way to move an extremely important, yet controversial, diplomatic agreement through the political process,” said Julian E. Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton to NY Times. “For conservatives the deal fulfills every negative view that they have about President Obama and the way Democrats handle foreign threats,” he added. “The narrative is built for the campaign trail — a Democratic president agrees to drop sanctions on a horrible regime that even most Democrats agree shows little signs of reform.”

“I’ve never been more disappointed in the body than I am today,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, who has long protested the deal. “You won’t let us have a vote. You won’t let us have a debate. And please stop saying this deal makes Israel safer. That’s cruel.”

“This agreement is flawed,” said Senator Angus King, independent of Maine. “But this is the agreement that is before us, and the analysis cannot be strictly of the agreement itself within its four corners, but compared to what? That really is the basic question here.”