By Micah Halpern
Column
The Iran deal was in the bag from the start. Anyone who surveyed the landscape of Washington, DC knew that.
But even though we knew it, whichever side of the debate you are on,
some things are worth fighting for. And they are worth fighting for not
only when you know you will win, but even, and even more so, when you
know you are going to lose.
Everyone involved in the debate over the Iran Nuke Deal knew that the
chances of getting 67 senators to override the president's commitment
to the deal was nearly impossible. Barbara Mikulski, the democratic
senator from Maryland, was simply the last senator to confirm what we
already knew. For some, Mikulski's vote was the cherry on top of the
sundae, for others it was the last nail in the coffin.
So why the rage? The storm? The fundraising? The speakers? The ads?
What was all the hullabaloo surrounding the vote about? And was it
worth it all?
The answer is twofold.
Most importantly, President Obama needs to understand that this deal
with Iran is a bi-partisan issue - even though he won. The president
needed to hear, to feel in his kishkes, that critique of the deal was
not meant only as a way of telling him to goose step around Israel's
prime minister and supporters of Israel but to let him know that
Americans across a broad spectrum of the country were also wary of
the
deal.
The president needed to - and still needs to understand, that people who support him are very uncomfortable with this deal.
Senator Chuck Schumer did not commit political suicide by standing up to Obama. On the contrary.
The democratic senator from NY, the man who would be the next senate
minority leader, made a cold calculation. And he almost certainly
cleared it with the White House before going public. Schumer said the
deal is a done deal, but -- let me appease my constituency and let me
help the Democratic Party down the road so that this does not become a
republican democrat split. And that's why Chuck Schumer chose to oppose
the deal.
Schumer's decision was at the same time a gift to his constituents and a gift to his party.
The other reason it was important to debate the deal was to enable
Israel to fight to get the best "swag bag" of treats they could as a
result of the implementation of the Iran Nuke Deal.
There is definitely a list, a Chanukah list of goodies -- if you will
-- that Israel wants and expects to receive once the deal that so
definitely endangers their country is implemented.
The list has been in formation for months. The longer the time frame
between the signing of the deal in July and the 100% certainty of the
deal going through, the more Israel can add on. U.S. Undersecretary of
the Treasury Adam Zsubin was just in Israel and it is this list that
took him there.
He spent four days on this very issue.
The deal was always done. Now Americans across the divide - those
cheering and those weeping - must accept that the time to debate is over
and done with. And now the real work begins.
Keeping Iran's feet to the fire and making certain that the United
States has the wherewithal to enforce the agreement will be another
struggle.
In this case, there are no foregone conclusions. Iran is notorious
for not living up to their nuclear commitments and the United States is
famous for looking forward to future goals, making peace and infamous
for not focusing and nit picking and policing agreements.
Good luck to us all.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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