How
dare Senator Cotton speak truth to power!
Just because everything in the letter was completely true is no
excuse. Senator Cotton has interrupted
delicate negotiations which were to conclude with an agreement that could never
command even a majority in the Senate, let alone a 2/3 vote needed to ratify a
treaty. It was very rude of him and his
46 colleagues to notice that Emperor Barry the Brilliant can't bind the United
States to a deal without ratification.
Who does Senator Cotton think he is anyway, a Senator or something?
I think Conservatives and Liberals differ greatly in
our views of the Iranian regime. When Iranians chant "Death to
America" and "Death to Israel," I believe them. Since
1979, the Mad Mullahs have said they are at war with America. And they
have backed it up with acts of war starting with taking our embassy in 1979 and
then continuing with the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut in 1983 and the
Khobar Towers bombing in 1996. More recently, Iran was the major supplier
of the deadliest IEDs used against US troops in Iraq. I do not believe
for a minute that the Iranian government wants peace. I believe they want
world domination, because that's what they say all the time.
Every Liberal press flack in creation is attacking Senator
Tom Cotton personally as a stupid war monger. Senator Cotton has a Bachelor of
Arts degree magna cum laude from Harvard.
He also has a Harvard Law degree.
One of his professors was Elizabeth Warren. His academic record is
better that Obama’s, or at least what we know of it. Cotton is not an ignorant hick. Tom Cotton is a US Army combat veteran of
Iraq and Afghanistan. He was awarded a Bronze Star for heroism under fire
in Afghanistan. He does not take war lightly. As a Vietnam Era
veteran, I find personal attacks on Senator Cotton's motivation for writing the
letter to be extremely offensive.
The letter that everyone is complaining about was
entirely accurate. There were no lies in the letter, as even John Kerry
was forced to admit that executive agreements do not have any binding power on
future administrations. The letter inconveniently pointed out that
Emperor Barry the Brilliant had no clothes, that he can’t deliver what he was
promising the Iranians without a Senate vote. The timing might not have
been what liberals would have preferred, but free speech is valid all the time
whether you're a Republican or Democrat, Senator or President.
The agreement in prospect will remove economic
sanctions against Iran. The letter writers want sanctions to continue and
actually to get stronger. I also want the sanctions to be strengthened.
I think the sanctions combined with the current price of oil would be
extremely effective.
The fall in the price of oil puts Iran in a very bad
position economically. Oil is at about $55 a barrel. Iran needs oil
at over $100 a barrel to fund all of their terrorism, wars and centrifuges.
They have a huge military and internal security structure which is very
expensive. The have large internal subsidies for food and energy.
The Iranian inflation rate is 30.3% according to the Iran central bank.
They are broke. Continued sanctions could lead to a much better
Iran arms deal. Continued sanctions might even lead to the collapse of
the current regime.
One way to keep the price of oil low would be to allow
American crude oil to be exported. In
the US, existing oil storage tanks are almost completely full. Right now the difference between West Texas
Intermediate, the American benchmark oil price, and Brent Crude, the
international price, is about $10 a barrel.
The prices would be roughly the same if the US could sell crude on the
international market. Right now, that’s
illegal.
Signing the current deal as it's described in the
press is much more likely to lead to was than continuing the sanctions.
In reaction, Saudi Arabia signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with
South Korea. The Saudis have also made it clear that if they need to,
they can purchase nuclear weapons from Pakistan.
The Israelis have no way to attack Iranian centrifuges
in the deeply buried concrete bunkers with conventional weapons. The
Israelis would have to use multiple nuclear ground bursts to do the job.
There would be a lot of radioactive dirt thrown into the air. If
the Iranians look like they are about to break out with nuclear weapons, there
is a strong possibility of Israeli preemptive attack.
My conclusion is that the deal in prospect is more
dangerous than no deal at all. The letter was a legitimate exercise in
free speech by a decorated combat veteran and Senators whose duty to the
country was to head off what they saw as a very bad deal by reminding everyone
of the obvious. Without Senate approval,
the deal is not binding.
The
Letter:
Iranian
Inflation
Oil
Storage Full:
