Remarkable!
There could be no clearer demonstration of the destructive psychology of “American exceptionalism” than the way the negotiations with Iran are being viewed.
Of course, the most egregious
attitude, defiant of constitutional precedent and contemptuous of international
law, is in the letter of almost the entire GOP Senate majority to the Iranian
government. What the GOP ignores completely, the media treats as an occasional
footnote: France, Germany, Russia, China and Britain (the UN Security Council
+1) are vital participants in the negotiations and any hoped for agreement.
They too, not just Obama, would be wiped away by “the stroke of a pen” with
which the outlaw Senators promise to trash any agreement.
From hubris to humiliation,
the Senators had to be enlightened by the Iranian foreign minister. He
suggested that they misread and defied US constitutional proscriptions about
the conduct of foreign policy. No surprise that they also had to be informed about
international law. Apparently it doesn’t exist for them: war is the preferable
alternative to diplomacy and international cooperation.
I agree that it is a matter of war and peace. Why do the Republicans want a war that is not in the interests of the United States, is certainly unnecessary by any measure, and why do they listen to the leader of a foreign power no less Benjamin Netanyahu who has lied consistently about Iran's nuclear program and who is a warmonger and a fanatic.
ReplyDeleteYour prescient analyses are spot-on and, this time, even further "proven" by the irresponsible Senatorial letter to the leadership in Iran. The unprecedented occurrences in our political life are staggering and I find it ever harder to contemplate our current political environment without a real dread as to what lies ahead. Sadly, even a presidency by Hilary Clinton - were she to be victorious in the presidential election - does not hold any promise for a turn-around in our orientation. That "American Century" model/vision scares me.
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