Iran Deal: 'A Disastrous Humiliation'
Reactions to the memorandum of understanding on ending Trump's war in Iran.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CN): The net result of a war that cost $60 billion, killed 13 Americans and thousands Iranian civilians, set off a new war between Israel and Lebanon, and caused massive U.S. inflation: America agrees to give Iran billions in exchange for nothing. A disastrous humiliation.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL): So the full text of the MOU with Iran is out, and I’ve got to tell you it is worse than even I imagined. The bottom line is this: The only thing the United States got was another 60 days to negotiate with Iran. What did Iran get? They didn’t get just another 60 days to stall, to rebuild their military, to prepare. They got a ton of money. And even the administration is not denying the fact that they are going to have access to over $300 billion. Guys, listen. Regardless of what your opinion was of this war, there is no reason that we should be exiting this war as a complete surrender and capitulation. The only reason is because Donald Trump, and he said this, he actually said this, he’s bored of it. He got bored. Fourteen Americans are dead. Two-hundred some are injured. Much of our infrastructure in the Middle East has been destroyed. We have lost a ton of aircraft. And we actually were doing effective strikes. But Donald Trump alienated our allies, ignored the information war, and economics drove him to his knees.
This isn’t just about what is going to happen over the summer or what’s going to happen next year. This is about the fact that we have just empowered an evil regime that we will eventually likely have to fight again when they are much better prepared and much better funded. We never should have started this battle if we weren’t prepared to finish it. But certainly once we were in it, we never should give away the store. And that’s exactly what happened. The United States looks incredibly weak. The United States looks like we are just crawling and begging Iran for forgiveness. And Donald Trump and Fox News and the Republicans can say what they want, but we all know the truth. This is disgusting. And as an American you should be ashamed of what this president just did.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA): This war has proven unbelievably costly and a disaster in the sense that it has put Iran in a stronger position, even with all of those costs. So, the president is trying to do a little smoke and mirrors here so you don’t see the obvious reality. We started this war. Amazing costs that were attached to it. The global economy really hit hard. Gas prices. A number of people, obviously, killed. Chaos throughout the region. And now on the back end, basically were having to agree how much money to release to Iran to get them to open up the Strait of Hormuz. So it doesn’t surprise me that the president is trying to keep this fuzzy so he can put his own spin on it.
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV): My view is that is this is a weak deal. It is weaker than the JCPOA. It puts us no — actually worse off than when we went in, because we’re going to give Iran — let’s think about this. Iran is no hero here. They are the leading state sponsor of terrorism. We’re going to give them upwards of half a trillion dollars to rebuild. What do you think they’re going to do with it? Just feed people? They’re going to rebuild their defense industrial base. And let’s remind people that every bomb made in Iran says ‘Death to America’ on it. So this is a weak deal. We are no better off.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO): Nobody’s seen the deal. We’re told there is a deal out there somewhere. No one wants to communicate what it is. Which raises a lot of questions actually. Why would you not want to say it? Same reason why they haven’t told us how much the war costs. They haven’t told us exactly what their goals are. They haven’t told us who they’re talking to. And now there’s a deal and they’re unwilling to tell us what it is. So, far more questions than answers.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: I’m glad that the conflict has finally ended and hope the ceasefire holds. But we must be clear-eyed that President Trump’s war was completely flawed in its intent and execution. None of the President’s objectives have been achieved, Iran has won significant financial concessions, America’s relationships globally are in tatters and the new, even more hardline regime in Tehran is emboldened. President Trump made a historic mistake in pulling out of the JCPOA and his actions in this war have only compounded those errors. Now, the American people are paying the price with higher costs in every aspect of life and tens of billions in tax dollars spent. The President must immediately release the full terms of his agreement with Iran so Congress and the American public can review it for themselves.
Former U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice: This is a jaw-dropping, horrific surrender document complete with hundreds of billions in reparations. It is the predictable result of incompetent negotiation and the foolhardy strategic catastrophe of starting and pursuing this disastrous war. The U.S. will not soon recover from this, the biggest national security blunder in decades.