What was terrible 17 months ago looks pretty good now, according to this guy.
As Steve Benen at the Maddow Blog
reported Monday and Peter Baker at
The New York Times wrote Thursday, some Republicans who oppose the framework negotiated with Iran—most notably Sen. Lindsey Graham—want the interim deal with the Islamic Republic to remain in place instead.
That would be the interim deal they said was terrible when it was announced in November 2013.
Known as the Joint Plan of Action, the interim deal lifted a few economic sanctions on Iran, and the Islamic Republic agreed not to enrich uranium at the 20 percent level and to freeze other elements of its nuclear program while a permanent agreement could be negotiated. The announcement of the interim deal produced a strong negative response on the Right. Graham said at the time: "[W]e had the chance to deliver a body blow."
"The sanctions actually worked but this interim deal gives the Iranian's $7 billion in cash and leaves in place one of the most sophisticated enrichment programs around," Graham told CNN.
Although Republicans were the chief objectors to the interim deal, a few Democrats did, too, including one of the party's top leaders, Chuck Schumer: "Iran simply freezes its nuclear capabilities while we reduce the sanctions. That is not a proportionate agreement."
Schumer is now one of eight Democratic senators co-sponsoring the Corker-Menendez bill, which is designed to give Congress a chance to scuttle a permanent deal between Iran, the United States and five other world powers.
Graham sees the framework for that permanent deal as even more terrible than the interim deal, as he said on Face the Nation Sunday:
“Here is what I think we should do,” Mr. Graham said. “Continue the sanctions under the interim agreement. That’s worked pretty well for the world. It has controlled Iran’s nuclear ambitions. They got some money, but do not do a final deal until you have the best opportunity to get the best result.”
"Best opportunity" as in, say, 2017 when President Obama is no longer in the White House?