Broader View

Many mainstream, nonpartisan Jewish community organizations have come out in opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran. Here are links to their statements. Read the rest of this entry »

What do Americans, American Jews, Israelis, and Iranians think of the Iran nuclear deal? Read the rest of this entry »

Here is what some Democrats in Congress have said about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Read the rest of this entry »

August 3, 2015

If there are “warmongers” in the Iran debate, they are not the deal’s critics, but its proponents. Yes, there are some extremists clamoring to send in the troops, but they are very few; no credible commentators are arguing to reject the nuclear agreement and instead launch a campaign of air strikes or a ground invasion against the Islamic Republic. In fact, it’s supporters of the deal who are putting up the straw-man argument, “It’s this deal or war.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Read the rest of this entry »

August 2, 2015

Okay, so it’s a bad deal. It may not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Perhaps a better deal was possible. But now it’s done—signed, sealed, and delivered, the law of the land—with the unanimous endorsement of the UN Security Council to boot. So it’s time to stop haggling and move on. Right? Wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

August 1, 2015

In a previous article, I outlined the major problems with the nuclear agreement with Iran: Weak inspections, generous and essentially irreversible lifting of sanctions, allowing Iran to re-arm, too-short duration, key missing components, and questionable legitimacy. Most importantly, the deal launders Iran’s decades-long illegal conduct, retroactively absolving it from any misdeeds, and commits to proactively support and protect its nuclear program in the future. Advocates for the deal are having trouble rebutting these arguments, so they have resorted instead to three different responses. Read the rest of this entry »

July 30, 2015

Some people agree that it’s not a good deal, and also that it may not actually succeed in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. But, they say, it’s the best we could have done. We had no choice, short of military action; had we pushed for better terms, more concessions from Iran and fewer from the West, the Iranians would have balked and walked away, and we would have ended up with nothing at all. (And then the international allies would also have balked, and the sanctions would have unraveled, and Iran would march to a bomb, etc.) Read the rest of this entry »

July 25, 2015

So much has been said and written about the Vienna agreement—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between six world powers and Iran to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear project—that I hesitated to add to the torrent of words and bytes. But enough people have asked for my thoughts that I decided to write up and share my analysis of the deal’s flaws and shortcomings. Read the rest of this entry »

July 30, 2015 (with later updates)

Broadly speaking, advocates for the nuclear agreement with Iran make one or more of the arguments listed below. Other than the first, they are all reasonable subjects for debate, made by thoughtful people, and deserve reasonable and thoughtful responses. I’m working on pulling together these responses, so please bear with me while I work through them. Read the rest of this entry »

Some have claimed that the only people objecting to the nuclear agreement with Iran are American Republicans and supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing governing coalition. In fact, skepticism and criticism come from across both the Israeli and American political spectrum—as well as some other surprising sources. Here are some notable quotes. Read the rest of this entry »