Will we withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal? Why does Trump even care about it? He almost always has an ulterior motive, so what is it this time? How did we get here?
I think we have a very solid answer to these questions, and the answer is Republican obstruction of President Obama.
According to the Daily Beast, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told congressional leaders that the reason Trump wants to kill the deal is because he has to look at it every 90 days.
Trump has to look at it every 90 days because of congressional Republicans.
Under the terms of legislation passed around the negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal, the president is required every 90 days to determine whether Tehran is in compliance. The measure was designed to put President Barack Obama (and anticipated successor Hillary Clinton) in a bind—forcing politically-uncomfortable declarations in support of an unpopular nuclear accord on the regular. But in the age of Trump, the 90-day-deadline has presented an unanticipated problem.
“Trump doesn’t want to have to be embarrassed every 90 days,” a Senate aide told The Daily Beast.
I suppose this shouldn't be funny, but when I first read it I did guffaw in a rather maniacal manner.
A Republican law intended to stymie and frustrate President Obama and possibly President Hillary Clinton may be the very thing that opens up Pandora's box. Republican obstruction and intransigence during the Obama administration will haunt us for a long time to come and may even end up providing Iran with the political fodder they need to restart their weapons program.
And no one will side with us ever again. There will be no "coalition of the willing" for the next 100 years.
Under a normal president, this wouldn't be an issue, but Trump is not normal. Trump would throw the entire world into chaos to assuage his own discomfort.