Defending a Good Deal

In defense of the deal - “Vigorously challenging his critics, President Barack Obama launched an aggressive and detailed defense of a landmark Iranian nuclear accord Wednesday, rejecting the idea that it leaves Tehran on the brink of a bomb and arguing the only alternative to the diplomatic deal is war.”

--“‘Either the issue of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon is resolved diplomatically through a negotiation or it’s resolved through force, through war,’ Obama said during a lengthy White House news conference. ‘Those are the options.’… The president said he welcomed a ‘robust’ debate with Congress, but showed little patience for what he cast as politically motivated opposition. Lawmakers can’t block the nuclear deal, but they can try to undermine it by insisting U.S. sanctions stay in place.” Full story by Julie Pace for the AP. http://wapo.st/1TESVzE

--See also: Full text of the President’s White House Press Conference here. http://1.usa.gov/1HvQOc1

Tweet - @tparsi: Opponents of #IranDeal say it's risky. So is military action. Why do they always accept risks of war, but never accept a risk for peace? http://bit.ly/1TF0lDf

Compared to what? - “Anyone who proposes rejecting this nuclear deal should be required to lay out an alternative course, and to show clearly that the alternative is both feasible and better,” writes Doyle McManus for the Los Angeles Times. “The deal's opponents haven't really done that — because there are no easy alternatives. They called on Obama to halt the talks, but they never quite spelled out what he should do on Day Two. Now that Obama has concluded a deal, they want Congress to block it — but they rarely talk about the real-world consequences.”

--“‘Put simply, no deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East,’ Obama said. Or, in Secretary of State John F. Kerry's phrasing: ‘What's the alternative? Go to war now?’… Unless the deal's opponents can provide a convincing answer, they're going to have a hard time building a veto-proof majority to block the deal when Congress votes on it this fall.” Full piece here. http://lat.ms/1TEV924

Winning with the pen, not the sword - “So what has been won by these arduous negotiations? First, an option other than war to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, one that positions the U.S. as a leader in making the world a safer place with a stroke of a pen rather than at the tip of a sword. The agreement also buys valuable time that can be used to work to end the deadly challenge from ISIL, restore some degree of normalcy in Iraq and Syria, and pursue new peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.” Read the full opinion from the editorial board of USA Today. http://usat.ly/1O3SPhw

Tweet - @barbaraslavin1: On #Iran, no need to speculate about the alternative. We’ve already lived it. http://on.msnbc.com/1TCZItH via @msnbchttp://on.msnbc.com/1O8FMvf

Why I’ll vote for a deal - “Thanks to the Obama administration’s negotiations, Iran’s nuclear program will be under lock, key and camera 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, writes Congressman Donald Beyer (D-VA) for MSNBC. “The eyes of the international community are on every centrifuge, every ounce of uranium, in all of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Inspectors have ‘when needed, where needed’ inspection rights to any Iranian military site suspected of being involved in the nuclear program.”

--“This deal could serve as a lasting deterrent that keeps our men and women in uniform out of another devastating war in the Middle East. Our diplomats have done their duty to forge this agreement. Now it is incumbent upon every member of Congress to ensure this deal goes forward, without obstruction or delay.” Read the full opinion here. http://on.msnbc.com/1K9eaW5

Don’t stand in the way - The Iranian nuclear deal “appears to be the very best — and most certainly the only realistic — shot at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon,” writes the editorial board of the Chicago Sun Times. “The fine print matters tremendously, of course. Over the next 60 days, Congress must pore over the agreement… that the Obama administration promises is built not on trust but on verification. If that basic ideal bears out, and we have confidence it will… Congress must not stand in the way of a historic deal that was unthinkable just a few years ago.” Full piece here. http://bit.ly/1O8AS14

Quick Hits:

--“It’s a Damn Good Deal,” by Jeffrey Lewis in Foreign Policy. http://atfp.co/1CFLmEL

--“Exclusive: Carter to travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss Iran, says Rice,” in Reuters. http://reut.rs/1I5AySw

--“Iran Is Hardly On The March,” by John Bradshaw and J. Dana Stuster in Defense One. http://bit.ly/1Ka9bqL

--“Putin Flexes Diplomatic Muscle on Iran,” by David Herszenhorn and Steven Myers for The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/1CFOYGV

Events:

--“Iran and the Future of the Regional Security and Economic Landscape,” featuring Dr. Colin H. Kahl, Dr. Suzanne Maloney, David Makovsky, Melissa Dalton, Ilan Goldenberg, Elizabeth Rosenberg, Colin McGinnis, Sean Thornton, Caroline Hurndall and Zachary Goldman. Tuesday, July 21 from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Located at NYU Washington, DC, Abramson Family Auditorium (B-1 Level), 1307 L St., NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1Hqobea

--“Negotiating the Gulf: How a Nuclear Agreement Would Redefine GCC-Iran Relations,” featuring Suzanne DiMaggio, Jamal Khashoggi, Nadim Shehadi, Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, and Hussein Ibish. Tuesday, July 21 from 12:00 - 2:00 PM. Located at The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, 1050 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1Mpvzdc

--“Iran and the U.S.: After the Nuclear Negotiations” featuring Amb. Thomas Pickering, Karim Sadjadpour and Amb. Frank Wisner. July 22nd at 6:00pm at Asia Society in New York. http://bit.ly/1M2rn5e

Dessert:

Nukes at your local airport - When America’s Strategic Air Command is ordered to DEFCON 3, war plans call for the dispersion of fully armed nuclear bombers across the U.S., in order to make them harder to target in the event of nuclear war. This actually happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and on Oct. 22, 1962, “183 nuclear-armed aircraft were sent to 33 military bases and civilian airports in the U.S..” David Nye has the full story for We Are The Mighty. http://bit.ly/1HwRCxg