The disastrous JCPOA and President Obama’s political compulsion to hide Iranian wrong-doing have infected the entire Democratic Party. Instead of responding to Iran’s support for terrorism and violations of its international commitments by imposing penalties, President Obama – and now his Democratic allies in Congress – are running cover.
David Gerstmen wrote last month that “Obama’s Passivity in Face of Aggression Puts Iran in Driver’s Seat” and
in October, Iran tested a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that was later determined by the United Nations to have been in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929. The administration, in response to Congressional pressure, was set to impose new sanctions on Iran at the end of 2015, but retreated when threatened by Iran.
Rather than leave Obama exposed to more embarrassment if he has to veto or block an Iran sanctions bill, Senate Democrats are trying to do the work for him. According to The Hill:
An early push in the Senate to pass new sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program is threatening to divide Democrats.While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are still hashing out the specifics, the issue is already splitting Democrats into two camps: Lawmakers who believe recent sanctions from President Obama go far enough and those who think Congress needs to further crackdown on Iran.
The House has already passed legislation – twice – to constrain the President, and Democrats lacked the numbers to block the bill despite their best efforts:
Legislation to prevent the Obama administration from lifting sanctions on Iranian entities unless it certifies they aren’t affiliated with terrorism or ballistic missile development technically already passed in the House last month. . . .On Tuesday, the bill[ again] . . . passed largely along party lines on a vote of 246-181. All but three Democrats opposed the measure.
(Emphasis added.)
There are seven years of evidence that the President is weak and myopic on international relations. There is a place for party loyalty, but it is past time for Congressional Democrats to put the country first and party second.
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