{"id":32305,"date":"2015-07-19T21:10:08","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T01:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=32305"},"modified":"2015-07-19T21:10:31","modified_gmt":"2015-07-20T01:10:31","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-friday-july-17th-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=32305","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Friday, July 17th, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Friday, July 17th, 2015…but before we begin, two quick thoughts. \u00a0First, consider while The Dear Misleader is handing America’s most implacable foe the keys to a nuclear weapon, United States Marines…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chattanooga Shootings Leave Four Marines, Sole Gunman Dead<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

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…remain barred from carry sidearms while in uniform. \u00a0Gee…it’s almost like someone’s pulling…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…for the other side!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Second, our two primary foci while studying history at the U.S. Naval Academy were the War Between the States and Nazi Germany. \u00a0Two questions always vexed us about the Nazis: (1) what could Neville Chamberlain and his like-minded appeasers possibly<\/em><\/span> have been thinking; and, (2) on what reservoir of evil were the Nazis able to draw to staff their SS Einsatzgruppen and Death Camps?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both<\/em><\/span> our questions were finally answered…<\/b><\/p>\n

\"OBAMA_KERRY_1306632f\"<\/a>\"374410_385455101472924_100000253121411_1424891_1996657303_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

…in the last two days.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Now, here’s The Gouge!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leading off the last edition of the week, courtesy of Balls Cotton and The Weekly Standard<\/em>, Noah Pollak offers…<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Iran Deal, Explained<\/span><\/h1>\n

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To cut through the rhetoric surrounding the Iran deal, and to better understand what the two sides conceded and gained, I\u2019ve compiled a balance sheet on the Iran deal. It\u2019s simple and non-technical; a basic list comparing what the U.S. gets versus what Iran gets. The reader is free to make up his own mind about the merits of the deal and the extent to which it advances U.S. interests and U.S. security, and that of our allies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Forget how far away the terms of the deal may be from the ones President Obama insisted on two years ago, last year, or even last month.<\/span> The saga of U.S. concessions to Iran is what\u2019s known as a \u201cprocess story,\u201d and one thing the Obama years should teach us is that process stories \u2013 stories about how the administration achieves its policy objectives, as opposed to the policies themselves \u2013 have increasingly little purchase on our political debates.<\/strong><\/span> So, without further ado:<\/span><\/p>\n

What we get<\/span><\/em>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran reduces by about half the number of centrifuges actively enriching uranium<\/em><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran reduces its stockpile of enriched uranium from about five tons to 300 kilograms<\/em><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran repurposes its heavy water reactor in Arak so it does not produce plutonium<\/em><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0An unspecified increase in inspections by the IAEA<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0I.E., NOTHING<\/span>!!!<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What Iran gets<\/span><\/em>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Sanctions relief<\/span>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Almost every type of U.S., EU, and UN sanctions lifted<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Repeal of six UN Security Council resolutions declaring the Iranian nuclear program illegal<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Top IRGC and Quds Force terrorists removed from the sanctions list, including Qassem Suleimani, leader of Iran\u2019s campaign against U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and Ahmad Vahidi, mastermind of the 1994 Jewish community center bombing in Argentina that killed 85 people<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The removal from the sanctions list of approximately 800 people and legal entities, including 23 out of 24 Iranian banks<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0$100 to $150 billion to be unfrozen and given to Iran with no restrictions on its use to purchase arms and fund terrorism, including funding for Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Assad regime in Syria<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nuclear program<\/span>:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran keeps every one of its nuclear centrifuges<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran keeps its entire physical nuclear infrastructure, including the enrichment facilities at Fordow and Natanz and the nuclear reactor at Bushehr<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran permitted to continue research and development on all of its advanced centrifuge designs, reducing nuclear breakout time at the end of the deal to weeks<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran permitted to transition its allowed enrichment of uranium from older centrifuge designs to advanced designs<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0No \u201canywhere, anytime\u201d inspections. Iran can delay inspection of any site for at least 24 days<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0No requirement that Iran fully disclose past nuclear weapons research and development (known as the PMD issue)<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The P5+1 western powers pledge to collaborate with Iran on nuclear technology<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Restrictions on enrichment \u2013 part of the \u201csunset\u201d of the deal \u2013 are lifted after eight years<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0If Iran is thought to have violated the deal, in order to \u201csnap back\u201d sanctions a dispute resolution process must be undertaken that can last two and a half months, after which the matter can be referred to the UN Security Council. At the UNSC, the re-imposition of sanctions can be vetoed by Russia, which stands to earn billions of dollars from arms sales to a non-sanctioned Iran.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Concessions unrelated to nuclear program<\/span>: \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ballistic missile embargo lifted after eight years<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Conventional arms embargo lifted after five years<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Iran keeps U.S. hostages\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I leave it to the reader to judge whether President Obama got the best deal he could.<\/p>\n