Obama: Iraq war backers now seek to derail Iran nuclear deal

[DonViejo]

President Obama took sharp aim at critics of the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday, saying many of those who backed the U.S. invasion of Iraq now want to reject the accord and put the Middle East on the likely path toward another war.

Obama also sketched out further setbacks he claimed would be set in motion by a snub from Congress: undercutting America’s standing in global diplomacy, leaving Washington isolated and putting ally Israel in greater peril.

“Now more than ever we need clear thinking in our foreign policy,” Obama told an audience at American University — the same venue used by President Kennedy to help encourage a landmark arms control deal with Moscow at the height of the Cold War.

“Many of the same people who made the case for war with Iraq” are now opposing the Iran deal, Obama said, who urged for a shift away in U.S. policies “characterized by a preference for military action over diplomacy.”

The heart of Obama’s address hammered hard on the administration’s views that the alternative to the deal is conflict.

“I am not saying this to be provocative,” Obama said. “I am stating a fact. . . . The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some form of war, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-push-for-iran-nuclear-deal-evokes-echo-of-cold-war-outreach/2015/08/05/8d73873c-3b7d-11e5-8e98-115a3cf7d7ae_story.html?

[geek tragedy]

1. No one who opposed the Iraq war is opposing this agreement.

The only 'Democrats' who have announced they'll be voting against it either voted for the Iraq war--Lowey and Israel--or weren't in Congress but represent districts whose representatives voted for the war--Rice, Meng, Deutch.

It's the same game, the same teams with the same players, the same stakes.