Obama failing to stand up to Israel lobby over Iran agreement: Ex-US congressional staffer
US President Barack Obama is failing to stand up to the Israel lobby which is leaving no stone unturned to defeat the Iran nuclear agreement in the Republican-dominated Congress, an American activist and radio host in California says.
Rodney Martin, former US congressional staffer, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on the Obama administration’s chances of saving the historic accord in Congress.
Republicans influenced by the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as well as a number of Democratic lawmakers have expressed opposition to the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries — the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany — last month in Vienna.
Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings has not only opposed the agreement, but pledged to draft a war authorization against the Islamic Republic.
Also, Jewish Senator Charles Schumer from New York as well as Representative Eliot Engel, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, have declared they will not join Obama’s rivals to oppose the nuclear accord.
But the opponents of the Iran nuclear accord need a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and Senate to override a presidential veto.
Martin said that “President Obama would be lucky to get 20 -- at max to 25 -- votes on the Democratic side, [but] he’s not going to get any Republican votes, [while] he needs 34 votes, he’s far short.”
“President Obama should have made sure he had Senator [Harry] Reid’s support very early on, the fact that he did not have Senator Reid, the Democratic leader support early on, is very, very bad for the process,” he told Press TV.
“And the fact that Senator Schumer, who will be the next Democratic leader, came out against the deal, could be perceived as the death blow to the deal in the Senate,” he added.
“While President Obama is fantastic as a campaigner and a politician that we saw in 2008 to 2012, [but] his messaging on the Iran deal has been horrible, and he has not risen to the occasion to stand up against AIPAC and the Jewish Zionist lobby that are basically having a free hand,” he noted.
“The airwaves have been solely dominated by the neocon and the Jewish Zionist lobby against the Iran deal and this has not gone unnoticed by the Democratic senators in the United States Senate,” he stated.
He also said that “if Iran deal is rejected in the Senate, it will be a major blow for world peace and will be embolden the Jewish Zionist lobby and will embolden them in the next Congress and under the next US president.”
Biden set to lose re-election over his genocidal policy in Gaza: US journalist
Frightful Biden-Trump rematch planned for November: Analyst
US Empire controlling people's minds to maintain hegemony: Scholar
Senior cmdr. strongly warns Trump following rhetorical remarks concerning Leader
EU Parliament halts US trade deal after Trump tariff threat
VIDEO | An unchecked presidency
VIDEO | Deportations strain Afghanistan’s fragile economy
‘Full-scale atrocity’: Iran security body reports 2,427 martyrs in US-Israeli-led riots
Smallest coffins are the heaviest: The three youngest victims of foreign-backed riots in Iran
Hamas warns of ‘systematic Israeli violations’ as Gaza ceasefire teeters
Israeli strikes kill 11 across Gaza, including children and journalists: Palestinian medics
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
