Word Association (2024)

[webfact]

U.S. Defence Secretary Mattis suggests sticking with Iran nuclear deal

By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart

 

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the "Political and Security Situation in Afghanistan" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday the United States should consider staying in the Iran nuclear deal unless it were proven that Tehran was not abiding by the agreement or that it was not in the U.S. national interest to do so.

 

Although Mattis said he supported President Donald Trump's review of the agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program, the defence secretary's view was far more positive than that of Trump, who has called the deal agreed between Iran and six world powers in 2015 an "embarrassment."

 

Trump is weighing whether the pact serves U.S. security interests as he faces an Oct. 15 deadline for certifying that Iran is complying, a decision that could sink an agreement strongly supported by the other world powers that negotiated it.

 

"If we can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement, if we can determine that this is in our best interest, then clearly we should stay with it," Mattis told a Senate hearing.

 

"I believe ..., absent indications to the contrary, it is something that the president should consider staying with,” Mattis added.

 

Earlier, when Mattis was asked whether he thought staying in the deal was in the U.S. national security interest, he replied: "Yes, senator, I do."

 

The White House had no immediate comment on Mattis' remarks, which once again highlighted the range of views on major policy issues within the Trump administration.

 

If Trump does not recertify by Oct. 15 that Iran is in compliance, congressional leaders would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran suspended under the accord.

 

That would let Congress, controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans, effectively decide whether to kill the deal. Although congressional leaders have declined to say whether they would seek to reimpose sanctions, Republican lawmakers were united in their opposition to the agreement reached by Democratic former President Barack Obama.

 

Senator Tom Cotton, a long-time sceptic about the Iran deal, backed decertification in order to threaten Iran with more sanctions or military action.

 

"One thing I learned in the Army is that when you have your opponent on his knees, you drive him to the ground and choke him out," Cotton said in a speech on Tuesday to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

 

'FUNDAMENTALLY' IN COMPLIANCE

 

In a House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday, Mattis said Iran was "fundamentally" in compliance with the nuclear deal.

 

"There have been certainly some areas where they were not temporarily in that regard, but overall our intelligence community believes that they have been compliant and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) also says so," Mattis said.

 

Last month, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said the accord cannot be renegotiated.

 

Trump has said he has made a decision on what to do about the agreement but has not said what he has decided.

 

The prospect of Washington reneging on the agreement has worried some U.S. partners that helped negotiate it, especially as the world grapples with North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development.

 

Backers of the pact say its collapse could trigger a regional arms race, worsen Middle East tensions and discourage countries like North Korea from trusting Washington to keep its word.

 

The deal was signed by Britain, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and the United States.

 

White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster has defended Trump's criticism of the nuclear agreement, saying it had the "fatal flaw" of a "sunset clause," under which some restrictions on Iran's nuclear program expire from 2025.

 

European ambassadors speaking in Washington last week said they would do everything possible to protect companies based in Europe and that continue to do business with Iran from reimposed U.S. sanctions.

 

French Ambassador Gerard Araud noted that the other countries that signed the pact had made clear they do not support renegotiating it.

 

J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group, said Trump did not have legitimate grounds to decertify the deal.

 

"If he chooses to do so anyway, he will be acting purely based on divisive politics and dangerous ideology, and endangering the security of the U.S. and our allies,” Dylan Williams, vice president of government affairs for the group, said in a statement.

 

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-04

[ilostmypassword]

Well, if Mattis says so, I guess Trump has no choice but to go along with him. Here are Trump's own words on the subject:

"And personally, I have great respect for my people. If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago."

https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2017/07/25/donald-trumps-interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-edited-transcript/

It is reassuring to know that when it comes to US foreign policy, Trump has admitted in his own words that he is not the decider.

[craigt3365]

3 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Well, if Mattis says so, I guess Trump has no choice but to go along with him. Here are Trump's own words on the subject:

"And personally, I have great respect for my people. If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago."

https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2017/07/25/donald-trumps-interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-edited-transcript/

It is reassuring to know that when it comes to US foreign policy, Trump has admitted in his own words that he is not the decider.

Ignore Trump.  Sad comment to have to make, but it's the truth.  And sadly, he's a known liar.

[hawker9000]

2 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Ignore Trump.  Sad comment to have to make, but it's the truth.  And sadly, he's a known liar.

'Just like his predecessor and electoral opponent, you mean?   Ignore yammering like this; the Trump-haters are known petulant and even violent losers and backbiters.  

 

'Gotta say, I think this is bad advice from Mattis, but he probably feels his plate is more than full with N. Korea and a DOD drained dry by 8 years of executive neglect and successive sequestrations right now.

Edited October 4, 2017 by hawker9000

[Morch]

 

There are no realistic alternatives to the current deal at this time.

 

The USA cannot enforce effective sanctions on its own, and there is no international support for scrapping the agreement. Even worse, if the USA pulls out of the agreement, it could give Iran pretext to suspend some of it's elements, such as the strict monitoring regime. So unless the Trump administration is willing to commit to a NK-like standoff (without international support), there's no real point to scrap the agreement.

 

I don't know there was a realistic option of getting better terms at the time. What's obvious is that there is no realistic option of scraping it and renegotiating a new, better agreement. Whether Mattis was in favor of the agreement or not, he's got to deal with an already existing situation. Under current conditions, staying the course is the sound choice.

 

Trump's reactions on this are similar to Obamacare - it's a bad deal, let's get rid of it, and make a new one. No details, no regard as to other parties involved, no plan for interim period, no backup plan if things go pear shaped.

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

'Just like his predecessor and electoral opponent, you mean?   Ignore yammering like this; the Trump-haters are known petulant and even violent losers and backbiters.  

 

'Gotta say, I think this is bad advice from Mattis, but he probably feels his plate is more than full with N. Korea and a DOD drained dry by 8 years of executive neglect and successive sequestrations right now.

Well Trump is certainly a weakling when it comes to Iran. He speaks as though he doesn't have the power to cancel the agreement.

"And personally, I have great respect for my people. If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago."

https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2017/07/25/donald-trumps-interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-edited-transcript/

[craigt3365]

2 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Well Trump is certainly a weakling when it comes to Iran. He speaks as though he doesn't have the power to cancel the agreement.

"And personally, I have great respect for my people. If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago."

https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2017/07/25/donald-trumps-interview-with-the-wall-street-journal-edited-transcript/

Trump is a joke.  And best ignored.  If possible!!!