I must confess that like many other Americans I learned my lessons about foreign affairs by watching movies like “Casablanca” and a host of others that focused on corruption, deception and all the other unspoken evils.
The average citizen is too busy raising children or holding on to a job and has no time for intense discussions about international politics.
But the current debate over whether the United States should enter into an agreement with Iran is quite important based on its potential impact on our families for years to come and it deserves notice by the public.
I am not going to use the statements by all of the Republican presidential candidates as a guide to making smart decisions.
All of them are against the deal because they detest President Obama and want to appease the pro-Israel pressure groups whose support they want in 2016.
I would like to say that President Obama has made a good case for approval of the pact, but like in many other instances, he has been a very poor salesman.
You can’t win an argument by bullying the other side with name calling and threats. Victory is often won by honest discussion and not being a nasty proponent.
Having spent the greater part of my life in government and being a curious reader of anything and everything on the subject of the Iran agreement, I have raised a number of questions to people who know the facts and feel like there are some real answers.
First of all, let’s say the agreement between the United States and Iran collapses. What happens then?
The sanctions that we have put in place against Iran will still be in effect, except all of our allies will be rescinding theirs.
Our allies have their own agenda and removing their sanctions suits their purposes.
Under that scenario, Iran gets a substantial amount of relief and our sanctions become meaningless.
Opponents of the agreement say that after the 10-year period of inspection and curtailment of nuclear activities, Iran will be free to quickly get access to a nuclear weapon.
Let’s think about what happens if the multi-nation agreement falls apart this year.
If you think the leaders of Iran are going to take an extended vacation and shut down their race to get a bomb you are totally off base.
Without any inspection process and none of the safeguards in this agreement, Iran will be free to work towards a nuclear presence in a lot shorter time than 10 years.
That possibility worries me even more for the future of my children and grandchildren.
Opponents argue that Iran will gain access to billions of dollars to use to further destabilize the rest of the world.
But that only happens after inspection of sites, full transparency and verification on how far Iran has gone to produce any type of weapon.
Without an agreement, they will continue doing exactly what they have been doing up to now and get a bomb much sooner.
Another of my deep concerns has to do with relations between the two countries.
Never before, in my lifetime, has a foreign country ever inserted itself into our national affairs.
The Prime Minister of Canada or any other leader wouldn’t even think to lobby the Congress for or against some matter before it.
I resent the continuing efforts of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to try to sway American opinion on this difficult issue.
The bond between the United States and Israel has always been strong and meaningful. We have been a generous supporter of Israel and they share many positive advancements with our country.
Netanyahu has done his country a “disservice” in its long-term relationship with America.
Luckily for the world the bonds between the two countries will not be ruptured.
The feelings on both sides of the issue are strong but I would rather have an imperfect agreement than none at all. Isn’t that what compromise is called?
