Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Go get em Joe! VP Biden responds to 47 Republicans who try to undermine Iran talks


photo 7bdce16e-0647-48f4-be9c-717d530d2172_zpsjogeslch.jpg

VP Joe Biden has spoken out forcefully against the 47 Republicans who took it upon themselves, with no constitutional authority to meddle and attempt to undermine the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Statement by the Vice President on the March 9th Letter From Republican Senators to the Islamic Republic of Iran

I served in the United States Senate for thirty-six years. I believe deeply in its traditions, in its value as an institution, and in its indispensable constitutional role in the conduct of our foreign policy. The letter sent on March 9th by forty-seven Republican Senators to the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressly designed to undercut a sitting President in the midst of sensitive international negotiations, is beneath the dignity of an institution I revere.

This letter, in the guise of a constitutional lesson, ignores two centuries of precedent and threatens to undermine the ability of any future American President, whether Democrat or Republican, to negotiate with other nations on behalf of the United States. Honorable people can disagree over policy. But this is no way to make America safer or stronger.

Read the whole thing.

While you are at it, read the response to the 47 shameless and dangerous ones from Iranian Foreign Minister, Dr. Javad Zarif.

Dr. Zarif`s Response to the Letter of US Senators

Zarif expressed astonishment that some members of US Congress find it appropriate to write to leaders of another country against their own President and administration. He pointed out that from reading the open letter, it seems that the authors not only do not understand international law, but are not fully cognizant of the nuances of their own Constitution when it comes to presidential powers in the conduct of foreign policy.

Foreign Minister Zarif added that “I should bring one important point to the attention of the authors and that is, the world is not the United States, and the conduct of inter-state relations is governed by international law, and not by US domestic law. The authors may not fully understand that in international law, governments represent the entirety of their respective states, are responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs, are required to fulfil the obligations they undertake with other states and may not invoke their internal law as justification for failure to perform their international obligations.

The Iranian Foreign Minister added that “Change of administration does not in any way relieve the next administration from international obligations undertaken by its predecessor in a possible agreement about Iran`s peaceful nuclear program.” He continued “I wish to enlighten the authors that if the next administration revokes any agreement with the stroke of a pen, as they boast, it will have simply committed a blatant violation of international law.

Thought I should link to Teheran:

Zarif to U.S. senators: You are ignorant of international law

TEHRAN – The Iranian foreign minister on Monday reacted to an open letter to Iran’s leaders by 47 U.S. Republican senators who had warned Tehran that any nuclear deal that the Islamic Republic signs with President Barack Obama’s administration won’t last after Obama leaves office.

Mohammad Javad Zarif said the letter lacks “legal validity” and shows that the signatories of the letter are “ignorant of international law”

“In our view this letter has no legal validity and is just a propaganda scheme,” Zarif noted.

Zarif said it is surprising that while nuclear talks have not reached a result yet pressure groups in the U.S. have become so “worried” that they have resorted to any “unconventional way” to kill it

The letter proved that “like” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu these senators “are opposed to any deal”.

Expressing surprise on how it is possible that the legislators of a country write a letter against their own president and government to the leaders of another country, Zarif said, “The letter by the senators show that not only they are alien to international law but even not familiar with the details of the their own constitution about the authority of the president” in implementing foreign agreements.

So an Iranian has to school Repubs on their job definitions.

Sen. Harry Reid slams Senate Republicans over Iran open letter

On the heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s all-but GOP-sanctioned address to Congress last week, in which he torpedoed any potential nuclear deal with Iran, 47 Republican senators released an open letter Monday morning threatening that any such deal could be revoked sooner rather than later. With the partisan rancor over the ongoing negotiations at an all-time high, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) slammed the GOP letter, calling it a “hard slap in the face of not only the United States but our allies.”

Reid pulled no punches in condemning what he sees as naked partisanship and “dislike of the president so intense” that Republican leaders are willing to disrupt policymaking. “The judgment of my Republican colleagues seems to be clouded by their abhorrence of President Obama,” Reid said. “It’s unprecedented for one political party to directly intervene in an international negotiation with the sole goal of embarrassing the president of the United States.”

(my bold)

Will post more in comments.  

For now  I’m dubbing them “The Reckless and Feckless 47”

 


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 26 Comments

26 comments

  1. DeniseVelez

    http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/joe…

    And Jerusalem Post:

    http://www.jpost.com/Middle-Ea…


    “In thirty-six years in the United States Senate, I cannot recall another instance in which senators wrote directly to advise another country – much less a longtime foreign adversary – that the President does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them,” the vice president said.

    “This letter sends a highly misleading signal to friend and foe alike that that our commander-in-chief cannot deliver on America’s commitments – a message that is as false as it is dangerous.”

    “The decision to undercut our president and circumvent our constitutional system offends me as a matter of principle,” Biden said. “As a matter of policy, the letter and its authors have also offered no viable alternative to the diplomatic resolution with Iran that their letter seeks to undermine.”

    “There is no perfect solution to the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program,” the vice president said. “However, a diplomatic solution that puts significant and verifiable constraints on Iran’s nuclear program represents the best, most sustainable chance to ensure that America, Israel, and the world will never be menaced by a nuclear-armed Iran. This letter is designed to convince Iran’s leaders not to reach such an understanding with the United States.”

  2. JanF

    And I am glad that they are seeing it for the bit of propaganda that it is.

    More than one commentator said that this might work against  “The Reckless and Feckless 47”. If Iran wants to set up a program that will last through our own “regime change”, starting now would be to their benefit. No president will be able to unilaterally disband a program created with our allies.

  3. Diana in NoVa

    To think that an Iranian official is more knowledgeable of the U.S. Constitution than the elected officials who are sworn to uphold it!

    Ignorance may be bliss but it is also dangerous.

    I wish there were a way that these thugs could be punished. Their own constituents won’t do it, they’re too stupid. They’ll go right on reelecting them.

    Thanks for the diary, Jan!

  4. JanF

    What an 18th century non-war with France has to do with the Senate’s letter to Iran

    … a doctor named George Logan traveled to France in 1798 to try to prevent war between our two countries. […] At the time of Logan’s trip, the United States and France were building toward a war, as Michael McConnell, a former federal judge and professor of constitutional law at Stanford University, explained to me by phone. Logan went to France after an official delegation from the United States had been met with demands from anonymous French emissaries for a bribe, an incident known as the XYZ Affair. The Federalist Party of President John Adams was advocating for war, but Logan’s visit prompted France to take some actions that defused the situation. Disappointment in Adams’s subsequent ramping down of tensions led to the act that bears Logan’s name.

    Apparently the United States was not allowed to Bomb Bomb Paris. Poor Federalist Society!!!

    This is funny:

    A report from the Congressional Research Service in 2006 recounted the case of the one person who’s ever been charged with violating the act: Francis Flournoy, a farmer from Kentucky who wrote a letter in a regional paper in 1803 that advocated a new country west of the Mississippi allied with France. He never faced trial, and the new country — as you may know — never came to be.

    France again!!!

    Mitch McConnell says that he and his fellow traitorous scum Senators could not be charged because of Senatorial immunity: “the ‘speech and debate clause exempts members of Congress from arrest or prosecution for acts done in their official capacity.’ ” So if the official capacity of an elected Republican is to destroy our chances for avoiding war and allow an enemy to get a nuclear weapon, they cannot be held responsible.

    It sure would be fun to test that theory, though.

  5. Portlaw

    Joe Biden owes Tom Cotton an apology, Bobby Jindal says.

    In a series of tweets on Tuesday, the Republican governor of Louisiana blasted the vice president’s response to the letter that Cotton and 46 other Republican senators sent to the Iranian government. Jindal, who is also a potential 2016 Republican candidate for president, said he supports the letter that the freshman Arkansas senator wrote.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/…

  6. JanF

    From AngryMouse

    On Monday we learned about a gang of 47 Senate Republicans who really respect the f&%$ out of the office of the president, so much so that they sent an “open letter” to “the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” helpfully hinting that Iran should not even bother negotiating with “President” Obama, because once the GOP gets another white guy in there, they’re going to repeal the bejesus out of Barry H. Bamz’s two terms, including any deals he mistakenly thinks he has the authority to make. […]

    And in a statement released by the White House Monday night, Joe Biden had some words for his former colleagues in the Senate and their young apprentices.

    [speech text and snark here]

    That’s what we call vice presidential subspeeching, and yes, Tom Cotton, the vice president is obviously, but not by name, calling you out for being a dick because for some reason, you think being a True American means undermining diplomatic negotiations that you don’t know a damned thing about because you just fell off the turnip truck yesterday.

  7. Portlaw

    In an open letter organized by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., 47 Senate Republicans today warned the leaders of Iran that any nuclear deal reached with President Barack Obama could expire as soon as he leaves office.

    Tomorrow, 24 hours later, Cotton will appear at an “Off the Record and strictly Non-Attribution” event with the National Defense Industrial Association, a lobbying and professional group for defense contractors.

    The NDIA is composed of executives from major military businesses such as Northrop Grumman, L-3 Communications, ManTech International, Boeing, Oshkosh Defense and Booz Allen Hamilton, among other firms.

     bolding mine

    https://firstlook.org/theinter…

  9. JanF

    Republicans Admit: That Iran Letter Was a Dumb Idea

    Republican aides were taken aback by the response to what what they thought was a lighthearted attempt to signal to Iran and the public that Congress should have a role in the ongoing nuclear discussions. Two GOP aides separately described their letter as a “cheeky” reminder of the congressional branch’s prerogatives.

    “The administration has no sense of humor when it comes to how weakly they have been handling these negotiations,” said a top GOP Senate aide.

    I guess I have no sense of humor either. I don’t find it “cheeky” to play these kind of dangerous games with the reputation of the United States. Unless by cheeky they mean mooning. It was certainly that.

  10. Portlaw

    My reaction to the letter was utter disbelief,” Kerry said when asked about it by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

    “You write to the leaders in the middle of a negotiation — particularly the leaders that they have criticized other people for even engaging with or writing to — to write then and suggest they were going to give a constitutional lesson, which by the way was absolutely incorrect, is quite stunning,” he went on.

    Kerry noted that presidents often do create binding agreements with foreign governments on all manner of issues without congressional approval.

    “This letter ignores more than two centuries of precedent in the conduct of American foreign policy,” said Kerry, adding that the suggestion that lawmakers would be willing to undo any presidential agreements “risks undermining the confidence that foreign governments in thousands of important agreements commit to between the United States and other countries.”

    “It purports to tell the world that if you want to have any confidence in your dealings with America, they have to negotiate with 535 members of Congress,” he said. “That is both untrue and a profoundly bad suggestion to make.”

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

Comments are closed.