Donald Trump and Ted Cruz Vs Brent Scowcroft and The Cato Institute

Originally published September 2, 2015.

September 9^th is the day for the big, Ted Cruz-initiated, anti-Iran nuclear deal rally at Capitol Hill.

Ted’s “guest of honor,” if I can call him that, will be none other than Donald Trump. No lie, Donald Trump will be front and center along with his direct competitor for the GOP presidential nomination.

Both are vocal opponents of the Iran Nuclear deal; as is the rest of the GOP presidential field—lock, stock and barrel. Why would Trump join his competitor Cruz? Easy, Trump is the “uber presence” in the Republican presidential horse race and knows that Ted Cruz carries the backing of the Tea Party and, along with Trump, is the best debater in the field. In Trump’s mind, he has no competition. So why not glom on to what is going to be a marvelous media free for all?

Good so far? Well the central problem here for both Mr. Cruz and Mr. Trump, as well as for the rest of the Republican presidential field, is that they, en masse, are on the wrong side of the Iran nuclear issue.

These are the same war hawks (neocons) that gave America the Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya misadventures and no doubt would have considered the Korean and Vietnam (though Trump has said he opposed the Vietnam war) debacles worthy of support. History is clear—none of these foreign interventions was central to the protection of America and each was a costly loser in terms of death and suffering for tens of thousands of Americans. And the benefit of it all?

As to the Iran Nuclear deal, America’s dean of foreign policy, Brent Scowcroft, has given the Iran accord his approval mentioning that Energy Secretary Moniz, along with 29 eminent nuclear scientists are in support.

I previously quoted Mr. Scowcroft here:

Mr. Scowcroft, according to the Washington Post, “pointed to the caliber of the people who negotiated the deal and who support it.” “There is no more credible expert on nuclear weapons than Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who led the technical negotiating team,” Mr. Scowcroft wrote. “When he asserts that the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] blocks each of Iran’s pathways to the fissile material necessary to make a nuclear weapon, responsible people listen. Twenty-nine eminent U.S. nuclear scientists have endorsed Moniz’s assertions.”

Also in support is America’s most independent and realistic think tank, the Cato Institute (see here and here)(with background here).

Former CIA bin Laden unit chief Michael Scheuer recently wrote “the expanding reach, numbers, and lethality of the Sunni Islamist movement is the most dangerous threat to the republic’s security – in part, because it is being ignored by Washington — U.S. political leaders have spent 2015 focused on Obama’s Iran deal.” Attention has been diverted away from the genuine Sunni threat to America and to the non-threat from Shia Iran.

It’s important to remember that only about 10% of the Muslim world is Shia. The rest is in the Sunni camp, which Michael rightly refers to as the most dangerous risk to America.