Republicans’ “Hitler” idiocy: Why their hysterical Iran pushback exposes a secret

[DonViejo]

GOP says the new nuclear deal with Iran is worse than the appeasement of Hitler. Here's what that really reveals

SIMON MALOY

FRIDAY, APR 3, 2015 05:58 AM EDT

Finally, after many long months of negotiating and behind-the-scenes drama, a U.S.-led international coalition and the government of Iran have arrived at what can probably be best described as a mutually agreed upon framework for a future agreement. As vague as that sounds, there are some actual specifics that come along with it: Iran will agree to drastically downgrade the number and quality of centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium, limit its uranium-enrichment activities for at least 15 years, destroy its plutonium-producing reactor at Arak, and allow international inspectors access to all its nuclear facilities and its nuclear supply chain. In return for meeting these commitments, the United States and the European Union will suspend sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program (while maintaining the sanctions “architecture” so that they can be quickly reinstated should Iran violate the agreement).

I’m not going to pretend that I’m some sort of expert in international diplomacy or nuclear non-proliferation and render judgment on the strength of this pre-agreement agreement. I do feel like I can say one thing with a fair amount of confidence, though: it’s not worse than Hitler.

Ever since it was first announced that the U.S. and its allies would be entering into talks with Iran to curb that country’s nuclear ambitions, conservative hawks have been attacking the diplomatic effort as a repeat of the 1938 Munich Agreement, in which the Western powers agreed to let Nazi Germany annex large portions of Czechoslovakia in an ultimately futile effort to prevent war. Comparisons of President Obama to Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who brokered the Munich Pact and boasted of “peace in our time” afterward, have been the stuff of many a hot take.

That those same conservatives had no idea of what the actual agreement with Iran would look like was immaterial – the very idea of diplomacy with Iran was viewed as weakness. Now that they actually have a sense of what the terms are, the Godwinning of the Iran debate is kicking into overdrive. Here’s the reaction from “moderate” Republican Mark Kirk, senator from Illinois:

“Neville Chamberlain got a better deal from Adolf Hitler,” Sen. Mark S. Kirk of Illinois said in a statement. “Under today’s deal, the United States and its international partners will dismantle the sanctions regime against Iran, while Iran, the world’s biggest exporter of terrorism, will be allowed to keep vast capabilities to make nuclear weapons.”

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http://www.salon.com/2015/04/03/republicans_hitler_idiocy_why_their_hysterical_iran_pushback_exposes_a_secret/