Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-10) parrots President Trump’s Iran deal posturing and follows him down the rat-hole of know-nothingism. Despite her lack of expertise in foreign policy, she states in her May 8, 2018 press release that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is “misguided,” ostensibly because it doesn’t solve all Middle East problems in one fell swoop. The JCPOA is an historical nuclear nonproliferation agreement, nothing more, nothing less.
After forty years of distrust, the JCPOA was a first-step confidence builder between Iran and the rest of the world. With JCPOA as the cornerstone, professional diplomats could have worked with reform-minded Iranians to reduce their missile program and find peaceful solutions in Gaza, Syria and Yemen.
Congresswoman Comstock claims to be bipartisan, however she didn’t consult with Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In his June 13, 2018 statement, Congressman Connolly stated that Trump’s abrogation of the JCPOA increases the probability of a nuclear Iran with the Saudis soon joining the club.
Now that Comstock and Trump have thrown the baby out with the bath water it will probably be a decade before American professional diplomats coax reform-minded Iranians back to the table to re-start the peace process from the beginning.
Greg Brandon
McLean