Why should we side with anyone? Let us instead look for ourselves at the deal and decide by examining it whether it was or was not helpful to the interests of those that signed it. I certainly see the upside for Iran in the deal that they signed. What upside there was for the US? I do not see it. As for Trump's negotiating tactics, they seem to have been somewhat successful. It would seem that not being predictable may work well. I don't see Trump as a genius nor particularly stable( though not unstable either) but he seems to have shown over the course of his life a natural skill as a negotiator , usually getting the better of the deals he has entered into, which is a skill that many EX Presidents seemed to lack IMO.
Hi GTAW,
Well, by upside for Iran, are you referring to their ability to trade more freely? If so, that's one of the parts of the agreement that made Iran want to sign it. I mean yea, we could have just agreed not to wipe them off the face of the globe if they stopped trying to enrich uranium beyond certain limits, but I imagine that would have been a hard sell to the other nations involved. Generally, in international negotiations, or in any matter of 'negotiating', there is a give and take. You give a little, they take a little. You take a little and they give a little. It is literally the definition of 'negotiate'.
Unions and companies 'negotiate' all the time. There is implied, in the act of negotiating, that offers are made where one party gets something while the other party gives up something. For example: We'll give the employees a better insurance package, but we will have to cut back a bit on your wage demands.
So, I think if one understands the term 'negotiate' that one should fully understand that both parties are trying to come to agreement by a give and take method of working things out. So yes, Iran was 'given' the ability to trade freely if they would stop enriching uranium. Iran agreed and so the U.S. got to walk away winning the battle to stop Iran from enriching its uranium up to weapons grade quality. So, both the U.S., and the other nations sided with us, got something out of the agreement also.
Now, President Trump came in and told you that they were walking all over us and that they weren't abiding by the agreement, but that's not what the other involved nations are saying. Who do we believe?
I believe it to not be an honest assessment of the agreement for anyone to say that the U.S. didn't 'get' something from the agreement. In fact, the U.S. got exactly what it wanted from the agreement. The promise from Iran that they would not enrich uranium to a certain level and that they would not proceed with trying to build a nuclear arsenal. That's what the U.S. got and, according to all parties involved, other than President Trump, is what Iran was living up to.
Oh, and BTW, as far as I am aware, Iran had representation at the table when these negotiations were ongoing and Donald Trump was not the person who brought them to that table.
God bless,
In Christ, ted