The GOP and The Ayatollah Have Common Cause
Senator Tom Cotton opposes the Iran deal because it won’t allow us to bomb the hell out of them.
Just because Iranian hardliners chant “Death to America” does not mean that that’s what all Iranians believe. In fact, it’s those . . . (APPLAUSE)
In fact, it’s those hardliners who are most comfortable with the status quo. It’s those hardliners chanting “Death to America” who have been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican Caucus.
– President Barack Obama
Peter Brennan sums up the Republican response to this part of the speech the President gave today at American University lobbying for support for his Iran deal:
Directly accusing your opponents of allying with wannabe-genocidal, anti-Semitic, authoritarian nutjobs. Very presidential, that’s the way to win ’em over.
The problem? We’ve been here before.
Common Cause
Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.
– President George W. Bush
Not wanting to go to war or not believing that war is a solution does not mean someone supports terrorists. On the other hand, Republicans and Iranian hardliners share a common cause being to stop the Iran deal from taking hold. That is in fact what “common cause” means. That you have a shared goal, and that goal is to defeat the deal.
The goal of P5+1 wasn’t to “negotiate sanctions” but to improve oversight of Iran’s nuclear program without war. A deal was struck, and based on the terms of the deal, the pro-western, modern people of Iran support the deal while the hardliners in Iran oppose the deal. The GOP has joined with Iranian hardliners in their opposition for both groups have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo in the Middle East.
If the GOP stops the deal, the hardliners who have come out strongly against the deal would be getting exactly what they want as well. When recently asked, the spokesman for the Supreme Leader said he neither supports nor opposes the Iran deal. In pulling back his support, the Supreme Leader opened the door for hardliners to speak publicly about their opposition, which is exactly what happened as many of the leaders of their revolutionary guard have come out in opposition.
The Iran deal is supported by every major nation, the UN, and those with extensive knowledge of the deal. The opposition does not seem to be able to articulate specifically what they disagree with and why. Perhaps it’s because any negotiated deal short of complete Iranian capitulation would have been unsatisfactory.
