Stupid is...

When it comes to international agreements and treaties entered into by the United States the general population is, as a whole, always clueless.  Very few citizens are even interested or have any sense that it affects their lives. Of those who do, even a smaller number have any in-depth knowledge of what the agreement or treaty entails.  That small number can be even further shaved by those who lack the historical awareness to interpret the agreements in any meaningful way.  Likely the populations of other nations are even poorer at being notably engaged.

For better or worse, this Nation, as a whole, depends on leadership to make the decisions that are in the best interest of the American People, more than with any other actions taken by the Federal Government.  Historically, the US has been pretty good at this, with limited political complications.

So how come nearly the entire US television watching population has seen, perhaps multiple times, ads denouncing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (aka the Iranian Deal)?  How does anyone seriously believe a 15 or 30 second ad can explain an argument against this 159 page agreement? Who’s paying for these ads? What do they want to accomplish?

The easy answer of course is that they want to influence political leadership by swaying potential voters.  However, there is no referendum in process, so the influence they hope to achieve is through public polling and the potential loss of financial support in upcoming elections.

The Republicans fell in line immediately, essentially before the ink was dry. It is a revealing statement of its own that every single Republican Congressmen denounced this Plan, a plan which is enthusiastically applauded or supported by virtually every single nation on this planet except one, as well as every international organization (such as the UN and NATO). This is the leadership on which we depend? Are these robots?

I attempted to read as much as I could of the 159 page Agreement (109 on paper) and eventually yielded to read a couple of the best objective summaries I could find.  Then I stepped back and tried to see what was happening.

The Agreement on its face is good.  It links extensive controls over the enrichment of natural uranium and supporting hardware, limiting the production of U-235 to enrichment levels well below those necessary for weapons (limited to 3.6% vs the necessary 90%).  150 inspectors will work full time for the next decade and a half.

Even though it ends in 15 years, Iran has agreed to never produce a nuclear weapon and to rejoin the non-proliferation protocol which will put them in a more vulnerable position than they are now for international sanctions and possible military action. 

The arguments against the Agreement are entirely based on what ifs; what if Iran cheats, what if Iran can dodge the inspectors, what if they use the money to promote terrorism (money which like it or not is theirs)? These and other arguments in effect preclude any diplomatic solutions.  Therein lays the real story.

The governing body in Israel does not want a diplomatic solution.  Netanyahu’s history and that portion of Israel’s government that support him have had a long history of managing Israel’s security through military actions.  He still revels in the glory of the 6-Day and Yom Kippur wars in which he participated (actually fighting in the Yom Kippur War). 

He and his supporters want a military solution because they feel it would be more conclusive and, if they were honest, more magnificent than mundane diplomacy.  The key is they also want the United States involved militarily.  What he wouldn’t give to have Lindsey Graham as President.

So who is funding these ads? Billionaires like Sheldon Adelson are cutting the checks. He’s a zealot supporter of Israel who has huge investments in casinos in the Middle East, and (as an aside) funds anything that opposes Obama.  Sheldon and those like him are the ones hoping to sway the electorate to pressure the few Democrats, such as NY Sen. Chuck Schumer, who are vulnerable to that kind of influence.

If Sheldon succeeds then, well Forest Gump said it best: Stupid is as stupid does. It’s just too bad that the ignorance of the public matched by the stupidity of Washington politics could possibly result in the human tragedy of war.