In July, diplomats from around the world met in Vienna, Austria and negotiated a landmark nuclear deal with Iran. Currently, the deal is on its way towards being passed by the United States legislature.
Before I continue, I need to make one thing absolutely clear. I am a Democrat. I am not a Republican. Chuck Schumer is not the only Democrat in the world who thinks the Iran deal is dangerous and should be vetoed. There are a lot of us out there, and our voices have been shut out of the debate by Democratic leadership that has threatened us with a false dichotomy: agree to this deal or be a warmonger.
This deal will allow the world’s most dangerous regime to get their hands on the world’s most dangerous weapon. Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism all over the world, and this deal’s immediate removal of the crippling sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table means they will have more capital to finance terrorist activity. Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman put it best when he said that Iran “support[s] Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi, and those are just the organizations that begin with the letter ‘H’.”
Worst of all, this deal does not eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat but simply delays it. By allowing Iran to keep their nuclear infrastructure in place, allowing Iranian authorities to inspect their own nuclear facilities and by removing the sanctions before seeing any proof of compliance, Iran has all the pieces in place to significantly reduce the time it takes for them to develop a bomb.
Even the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon makes its neighbors nervous. This deal will create a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, the world’s most volatile and unstable region, because once Iran has a bomb, Saudi Arabia will want one. Once Saudi Arabia gets one, Turkey will want one. Egypt will want one. The domino effect will continue unless we stop it here and now by refusing these provisions.
I admire the president’s fierce devotion to making peace and creating a deal that will stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. I believe that such a deal is possible. With tough negotiations, we can bring Iran to sign a deal that will actually remove the nuclear threat and allow Iran to participate fully in the international community. The deal we made, unfortunately, is not that.
The Obama administration currently has enough votes to override a congressional veto. So, that’ll be it. As Charles Krauthammer said, “Obama will get his ‘legacy’. Kerry will get his Nobel. And Iran will get the bomb.”
Everybody wins. Except for us.
This deal is far too important for us to just give up. We must make our voices heard and tell our elected leaders that this deal cannot stand. We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of history by appeasing a genocidal regime and allowing it to wreak havoc on its targets. We must tell our elected leaders that the American people deserve a better deal.
Eitan Snyder is a sophomore majoring in music business.
Check out Lucas Baker‘s PRO piece, “Obama’s Iran deal avoids war.”