What’s left of Mr. Obama’s legacy at this point? Bad deal after bad deal has been scuttled by President Trump. This NY Times article has had the headline changed at least 3 times, originally being about concern over America losing credibility in Europe
Trump Abandons Iran Nuclear Deal He Long Scorned
President Trump declared on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, unraveling the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama, isolating the United States from its Western allies and sowing uncertainty before a risky nuclear negotiation with North Korea.
The decision, while long anticipated and widely telegraphed, leaves the 2015 agreement reached by seven countries after more than two years of grueling negotiations in tatters. The United States will now reimpose the stringent sanctions it imposed on Iran before the deal and is considering new penalties.
Iran said it will remain in the deal, which tightly restricted its nuclear ambitions for a decade or more in return for ending the sanctions that had crippled its economy.
So did France, Germany and Britain, raising the prospect of a trans-Atlantic clash as European companies face the return of American sanctions for doing business with Iran. China and Russia, also signatories to the deal, are likely to join Iran in accusing the United States of violating the accord.
Realistically, they need the United States more than we need them. France and Germany are the primary nations that will throw a hissy fit, and both of them should remember which nation is their friend and which is the world’s number one sponsor of terrorism. China needs our markets for their under-priced goods. Russia? Wait, I thought they were now the enemy? We’re caring about that? Spending two years of grueling negotiations and getting virtually nothing out of the deal shows that the Obama negotiators stunk.
Because look at the third paragraph: tightly restricted its nuclear ambitions for a decade. Not ended them. Just slowed them down a bit, and, in exchange, Iran received billions from Obama, removal of sanctions, ability to sell its oil on the world market, and ability to buy and sell on the world market. And they gave up, really, nothing.
And Iran was already part of a deal stopping them from developing nuclear weapons: the Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as subsequent NPT accords.
Mr. Trump’s decision will test his already frayed relationship with European leaders. President Emmanuel Macron of France, whom the president welcomed with a state dinner two weeks ago, learned of his decision in a phone call with Mr. Trump on Tuesday morning. Later, he said in a post on Twitter that the European allies “regret†his decision.
“The international regime against nuclear proliferation is at stake,†he added.
They like to write about frayed relationships, but they can’t point to them in detail. Perhaps European leaders, meaning France and Germany, should consider taking our side and following our lead, rather than demanding we do what they want.
Few people were more stung by Mr. Trump’s decision than those who worked for Mr. Obama. Though he has moved methodically to dismantle his predecessor’s legacy, his reversal of the Iran deal was particularly painful, given the five years of effort that went into imposing sanctions, and the more than two-year-long negotiation led by Secretary of State John Kerry that yielded the accord.
“No rhetoric is required,†Mr. Kerry said in a statement. “The facts speak for themselves. Instead of building on unprecedented nonproliferation verification measures, this decision risks throwing them away and dragging the world back to the brink we faced a few years ago.â€
If your neighbor keeps throwing their dog poo into your yard, and you negotiate a deal in which the neighbor promises not to throw poo into your yard for 10 years, and to not develop a poo stockpile which requires verification (but a 2 week notification and sections of his yard is off limits to inspection), and, in exchange, you give the neighbor a bundle of money and access to your apple trees and swimming pool, your spouse might call you a dumbass for negotiating that deal.
At the end of the day, most EU nations aren’t involved, a chunk are with us (like Poland), and France, Germany, and Britain can either stand with their #1 ally or stand with Iran.
Turns out a pen and phone agreement is only as good as the next election https://t.co/IQPaDGFEJg
— DaveinTexas (@DaveinTexas) May 8, 2018
Yay!
That’s what representative democracy looks like. Any deal is only as lasting as the person who made it stays in office. Everyone knows this. Treaties are no more permanent. They can be repudiated by any new administration, or simply not enforced. Everyone knows this. Why all the outrage now because Trump is doing what he said he was going to do all along? The lesson here is, when you make back room deals to make yourself rich, don’t expect your successor to honor them.
Isolating the United States from Europe. Sounds like a wise ideal!
Also, No evidence of “isolating”. We are still in Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria as part of multi-national organizations and none of our allies have given up and gone home to “isolate us”. Even the Canadians are still here.