05-08-2018, 07:15 PM
(05-08-2018, 06:31 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: What baffles me about this is that the Iran deal was working and they had stopped their nuclear weapons program. If they do not reach a new deal with the other signatories, then they will start their program back up. So pulling out of the deal has caused the thing that the deal was preventing, but also what Trump says he doesn't want to happen.
And while this does things to our overall image, that ship sailed with this administration. The diplomatic corps have been so depleted that they have been having a tough go of it. This really doesn't do much either way and that is repairable with a new administration, we just have to hope someone with better sense gets into office.
The real damage, other than Iran likely restarting their nuclear program and giving the religious leaders more ability to foment anti-American sentiment and entrench their power further, is that it weakens Trump's bargaining position in the meeting with North Korea. Kim can go into that meeting saying "why should I trust the US? Look what happened to Iran. None of the other signatories say they were violating the arrangement, but you did and pulled out of it. So why should we trust anything you say?" That's the damage here. It is some terrible timing.
By pulling out of the deal and making it clear there are consequences for dictatorships seeking nuclear weapons. Trump makes it clear their best move is to disarm with credible ways to enforce.
This deal was sour on delivery. Obama just wanted one positive foreign policy act, so he made any deal possible just for the sake of his legacy. Now we can chalk it up to yet another failure we have been able to escape.
