Fear of Lobby Keeps Dems From Praising Obama's Iran Deal

It didn't take one prominent neocon long to figure out that that the Iran deal -- and the prospect of ending the stalemate with Iran without recourse to war -- has put the Democrats in a box.

In the normal course of affairs, Democrats would be ecstatic about what Secretary of State John Kerry brought home from Geneva and not only for the most obvious reason. If it holds, the agreement will prevent development of an Iranian nuclear weapon and lead to normalizing of relations with a powerful Middle East state with whom we have been in a cold war for 44 years. Improved relations can help us in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Even more significantly, Iran can work with us to confront the surge in Al Qaeda and its offshoots which, according to Wednesday's New York Times have "raised concerns among American intelligence and counter terrorism officials that militants aligned with Al Qaeda could establish a base in Syria capable of threatening Israel and Europe." The Iranian government (unlike the Saudis who back the jihadists) have helped us against them in the past (immediately following 9/11) and would, no doubt, do so again.

Above all, the agreement (if Congress allows it to be implemented) puts a brake on Iranian nuclear development, something that no other strategy the U.S. has tried has accomplished. (Sanctions? Before sanctions were imposed Iran had 160 centrifuges for advanced uranium enrichment; now it has 19,000).

But lay all that aside for a moment. And think only of the politics. At a time when President Obama's popularity may be at its lowest point since his 2009 inauguration (due largely to the problems with the Obamacare rollout) the administration has something truly magnificent to show off as a second term accomplishment: the Iran breakthrough. With the off year election looming, Democrats can go into the campaign with something tangible to show, something on a par with Nixon's opening to China. Congressional majorities are built on successes like the one in Geneva.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/fear-of-lobby-keeps-dems-_b_4404408.html