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BREAKING NEWS: Netanyahu slams Obama’s Iran policy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today did exactly House Speaker John Boehner recruited him to do: He attacked President Obama’s foreign policy. He told Congress to reject the nuclear deal Obama is trying to negotiate with Iran, saying “no deal is better than this deal.” This isn’t just bare-knuckle politics. It’s utterly inappropriate under our system of government.

Foreign policy is one of the most important things our government does. Screw it up, as our last Republican president did, and we may find ourselves bleeding American lives and treasure in an unwinnable or inconclusive war (which has been the result of nearly all the major wars the U.S. has fought since 1945, the sole exception being the first Gulf War). This is war and peace, national security, and American lives you’re talking about.

Imagine if you had 435 people trying to steer a car, all clutching at the steering wheel. It wouldn’t be long before the car slammed into a tree, pole, or bridge pillar. Basically, you’ve gotta have one driver — and s/he has to do the job right. Under our system of government, the President and State Department are primarily responsible for foreign policy, conducting diplomacy, commanding and managing the military, etc.

We do have a system of checks and balances. The Senate approves or rejects treaties, certain key executive branch appointments, holds hearings, etc. The House is primarily responsible for approving military and executive branch appropriations and budgets. Together, the House and Senate vote on declarations of war, giving the president war powers, and so on.

What Boehner has done isn’t checks and balances. He’s usurping the President’s foreign policy authority. He doesn’t like President Obama’s policy toward Iran, so he’s trying to impose a different policy on the administration. He’s not just playing politics below the belt; he’s playing with nuclear fire. He’s grabbing for the steering wheel. What could be more irresponsible?

As for Netanyahu, if he wants to lobby the U.S. government, he should do so via the State Department and diplomatic channels. He had no damn business coming to this country and attacking the foreign and security policies of the President of the United States in front of a partisan crowd in Congress who hope those policies fail.

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Photo: President Boehner explains his foreign policy to reporters.

 

 


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