Roskam, Kirk, offer fear, not substance on Iran nuclear deal

"This deal all but ensures Iran will become a nuclear power in our lifetime, defeating from the outset the Obama administration’s own long-stated goal of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran."
  - Congressman Peter Roskam (Rep. IL-6)

“I am gravely concerned that the nuclear agreement will condemn the next generation to living with an Iranian nuclear power in the Persian Gulf and ultimately endanger the security of the United States, Israel, and other regional allies over the long term."
  - Senator Mark Kirk (Rep. IL)

That's about you'll get from my Congressman Peter Roskam and Senator Mark Kirk on the historic nuclear deal struck by the P5+1 (US, Russia, China, England and France) with Iran yesterday. It puts the world community on a path to peace after two decades of incessant warfare. The Vienna agreement is our best and last hope for peace in the Middle East. That the US and other major powers could preserver against unrelenting pressure from Israel and its lock-step allies in Congress, including Roskam and Kirk, is a testament to their independence and fortitude. We owe them our grateful support to end the near endless cycle of fear and loathing against substantive negotiation.

Roskam and Kirk want none of that. They remind me of Bob Dylan's warning in 'Masters of War': "You play with our world like it's your little toy."

Since they'll likely never read, much less comment intelligently and decently on the deal, let's offer just a few safeguards contained in this 100 page, technically complex agreement.

• 20 years of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring of uranium ore concentrate produced by Iran for 25 years
• Containment and surveillance of centrifuge rotors for 20 years
• A reliable mechanism to ensure speedy resolution of IAEA access concerns for 15 years
• All sanctions to be lifted but only after Iran complies with its obligations
• Iran reduces stockpile of uranium by 98%
• Enrichment cannot exceed 3.67%, far below threshold necessary for a nuke
• Iranian Centrifuges will drop from 20,000 to 6,104
• IAEA inspectors will have access to all Iranian nuclear facilities
• The Arak nuclear reactor is being dismantled and rebuilt in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Plan of Action. This will make it impossible to produce weapons grade material.
• Most importantly, the P5+1 and Iran agree that "the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) remains the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”

That language puts Iran squarely within the 191 member world community which has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The four states who haven't? Pakistan, Sudan, India, and possessor of 100 to 200 nukes, Israel. The deal makes Israel, not Iran, the rogue nuclear state.

Israeli loyalists in Congress like Roskam and Kirk, are so desperate to derail nuclear détente, they will say and do anything to achieve their goal. We negotiated with Russia for half a century after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even though Russia possessed thousands of nuclear missiles aimed at us. If leaders like Roskam and Kirk were calling the shots, we wouldn't have a world to save today. We must stand up to their bullying and fear tactics or they may yet succeed in war to remove Israel's only Middle East rival. 

Don't let them.