Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Early Returns on the Iran Deal

The agreement in question is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It is to provide more than $100 billion in unfrozen assets to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. In exchange, Tehran is supposed to halt a nuclear weapons program whose existence it has consistently denied.
More on that in a moment but first, this point: A deal so consequential ought to have been framed as a treaty. But treaties require congressional advice and consent. President Obama was uninterested in the former and unwilling even to try for the latter.
Initially, the deal Mr. Obama cut was termed an “executive agreement.” But in a Nov. 17 letter responding to a query from Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, the State Department revealed that the plan of action does not fall into that category either. In fact, it’s not even a “signed document.” It merely “reflects political commitments” — commitments that are not “legally binding.”

http://townhall.com/columnists/cliffmay/2015/12/23/the-early-returns-on-the-iran-deal-n2096680 

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