Iran pact will protect against major war in Middle East

The Obama administration over a period of time came to realize that the sanctions against Iran were not working to prevent them from building a nuclear weapon, which meant that Israel under the leadership of Netanyahu, and possibly some other countries, were going to attack Syria to begin another major war in the Middle East.

Thus Secretary of State John Kerry, with the support of NATO, was sent to Syria to try to do something about it. He managed to see Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (the country’s supreme leader) who he found surprisingly open to negotiations. Eventually after hours of grueling talks, the P5 + 1 process (which incidentally was supported by George W. Bush) led to a negotiated settlement, which means that neither party got everything they wanted, but both parties will get peace.

Iran will get the lifting of oil and financial sanctions, and the nations of the world will get Iran’s inability to achieve a nuclear weapon. This means: “limits on Iran’s nuclear production capability and fuel stockpile over the next 15 years,” international restrictions on Iranian arms remaining in place for up to 5 years, and the ban on ballistic missile exports remaining for up to 8 years.

As Obama recently said, “the deal is not built on trust; it is built on verification.” This verification was the final sticking point of the negotiations. The Iranians finally agreed to inspection of their military sites, which was something the Khamenei had long said was impossible.

All the focus now turns to the Senate, which has 60 days to review the 100 page agreement. The Senate could block it, but Obama has said that he would veto any legislation that prohibits the deal’s implementation, meaning those who would oppose its ratification would need a three-fourths vote, something that would require many Democrats.

If amendments are made, the agreement is dead, and if the agreement is dead we are headed into war. Many are saying this vote is much like the vote to go into Iraq in that the vote is again about whether or not we will go to war in the Middle East. Sure some things could go wrong in the enforcement of the agreement, but that minimal possibility does not compare with what will surely happen without it.

As far as I can tell, the ratification of this carefully constructed agreement over such a long time is just a no-brainer.

The writer lives in Murrells Inlet.

This story was originally published August 31, 2015 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Iran pact will protect against major war in Middle East."