Obama 1 senator shy of guaranteeing Iran deal
Ynetnews/Yitzhak Benhorin, Itamar Eichner/Published: 09.02.15 / Democrats Bob Casey, Chris Coons declare support for deal signed with Islamic Republic; 1 more vote will give US president capability to veto Republican attempt to shut down deal. Washington – Supporters of the Iran nuclear deal are on the cusp of clinching the necessary US Senate votes to keep the contested agreement alive and hand President Barack Obama a major foreign policy victory in spite of furious opposition. Democratic Senators Bob Casey and Chris Coons on Tuesday became the 32nd and 33rd senators to announce support for the deal, just one shy of the 34 votes needed to uphold an Obama veto of Republican legislation aimed at blocking it. “This agreement will substantially constrain the Iranian nuclear program for its duration, and compared with all realistic alternatives, it is the best option available to us at this time,” Casey said in a statement. In remarks at the University of Delaware, Coons said, “I will support this agreement despite its flaws because it is the better strategy for the United States to lead a coalesced global community in containing the spread of nuclear weapons.” Earlier Tuesday Sen. Ben Cardin, top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, predicted that Obama would get to 34 votes by week’s end despite two Democrats who have openly declared their opposition to the deal. Congress returns from its six-week break on September 8 and the Senate will begin debating the Iran deal. Republicans unanimously oppose the deal with 54 votes, aiming to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions, and the Israeli government is vehemently opposed. But critics have failed to use Congress’ summer recess to turn the tide against the deal. Only two Democratic senators have come out against it. With 34 votes looking to be within reach, supporters have begun aiming to get 41 votes, which would block the disapproval resolution from passing in the first place, and would spare Obama from having to use his veto pen. Cardin, who said he remains undecided, didn’t address that possibility.
In a session with students at Johns Hopkins University, Cardin discussed the pros and cons and said his decision will be made on which approach is likeliest to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state. Either decision carries risks, he said. “I think it’s a tough call and I sort of bristle when people say this is such an easy decision, why haven’t you made it,” Cardin said. “I don’t think it is an easy judgment call. I think there are high risks either way.” Officials in Jerusalem were unsurprised Tuesday at Obama’s impending victory, having predicted such an outcome from the beginning. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office refused to comment. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Obama clinches support needed to approve Iran deal
Ynetnews/Associated Press/Published: 09.02.15,/President secures ability to uphold veto as Sen. Barbara Mikulski announces she will vote in favor of nuclear deal. US President Barack Obama secured a landmark foreign policy victory on Wednesday over ferocious opposition from Republicans and the government of Israel when Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski became the 34th vote in favor of the Iran nuclear deal. Mikulski’s backing gives supporters the margin they need to uphold an expected Obama veto of a congressional resolution of disapproval that Republicans hope to pass later this month. And it spells failure for opponents of the international agreement who sought to foil it by turning Congress against it. Leading that effort were Israel and its allies in the US, who failed to get traction after spending millions of dollars trying. Jerusalem sources said following the news that “the prime minister made clear before his speech to Congress in March that his duty is to present Israel’s concerns about the agreement to the American people and its representatives. A solid majority of the American public and in Congress agrees with this stance.”The agreement signed by Iran, the US and five other world powers limits Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions. Republicans and Israeli leaders contend that concessions made to Iran could empower that country, which has sworn to destroy Israel. Soon after news of Mikulski’s announcement broke, Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a speech defending the deal at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center. Kerry compared the situation to a house fire – no one would refrain from putting out a fire because of concern about what might happen in 10-15 years. One would, Kerry said, put out the fire and begin preparing for the future. “No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime,” Mikulski said in a statement. “I have concluded that this Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb. For these reasons, I will vote in favor of this deal.”
Secretary of State John Kerry is sending a letter to all members of Congress outlining US security commitments to Israel and the Gulf Arab states in light of the nuclear deal. The letter comes as Kerry delivers a major policy speech Wednesday in Philadelphia that focuses on how the international agreement makes the US and its allies safer and how the deal is being mischaracterized by some opponents. “I really believe the fastest way to a genuine arms race in the Middle East is to not have this agreement,” Kerry said in a nationally broadcast interview Wednesday. “Because if you don’t have this agreement, Iran has already made clear what its direction is.”With opposition to the agreement failing to take hold on the Democratic side, supporters may even be able to muster the 41 votes needed to block the resolution from passing in the first place, sparing Obama from having to use his veto pen. That would require seven of the 11 remaining undeclared senators to decide in favor of the deal. Only two Democratic senators have come out against the deal – Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez – while in recent weeks undeclared Democratic senators, even from red states, have broken in favor one after another. Even if Congress were able to pass the disapproval resolution, it can’t stop the deal, which was agreed to among Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. In July, the UN Security Council unanimously endorsed the nuclear deal, approving a resolution that would lift the international sanctions on Iran in 90 days. Interviewed on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program Wednesday, Kerry said that the absence of an agreement is what could lead to a nuclear arms race in the region. Putting the deal in place, he said, will keep other nations “from chasing a weapon on their own.” Kerry also said that if the US rejects the deal, it would confirm the fears of Iran’s leaders “that you can’t deal with the West, that you can’t trust the West.”
CIA ‘launches secret drone campaign’ in Syria
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News/Wednesday, 2 September 2015/A secret drone campaign targeting ISIS leaders is being carried out by the CIA and U.S. special forces in Syria, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. According to the paper, the clandestine program is using armed drones to kill the militant leaders, in a move that has been separated from wider American military operations against ISIS in territory held by the militants in Syria and Iraq. The strikes are being carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), while the CIA’s main role in the operation is identifying and locating senior ISIS leaders. So far, the program has only resulted in a handful of strikes focusing on “high value targets,” officials told the Post. The CIA and U.S. special forces are carrying out a secret campaign using armed drones to target and kill Islamic State leaders in Syria, the Among those so far killed is Junaid Hussain, a militant hacker from Britain who the Pentagon said was recruiting ISIS sympathizers to carry out lone wolf attacks in the West. A decision to use the Central Intelligence Agency’s Counterterrorism Center (CTC) and JSOC in the operation reflects rising anxiety about the spread of ISIS fighters, the Post reported.The CTC led the hunt for Osama bin Laden and JSOC includes the elite Navy SEAL team that carried out the mission to kill the former al-Qaeda leader in 2011. Drone strikes are politically contentious in Washington and President Barack Obama wants the CIA to return to its core activity of spying, and away from paramilitary actions. Instead, he wants the Pentagon to take over the drone strikes. But Senator Barbara Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has said she was not convinced the military could carry out drone strikes with the same “patience and discretion” as the CIA. (With AFP)
