Donald Trump is attempting to claim credit as a peacemaker after creating the very crisis he claims he has ended. The American people are left to bear the costs: 13 American servicemembers killed, countless Iranian civilians dead, and more than $50 billion of taxpayer dollars spent on an illegal and unauthorized war. Announcing a half-baked agreement and declaring victory on his birthday is straight out of the authoritarian playbook. It does nothing to erase the consequences of the reckless decision to start a war. 
 
And the substance of this agreement raises serious questions of its own.
 
For years, Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans attacked President Obama's Iran agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for its focus only on Iran’s nuclear program and not its missiles, proxies, or regional aggression.
 
Now, Trump has reportedly reached an agreement with Iran that addresses none of those issues—and is even silent on the nuclear program itself!
 
Will Congressional Republicans oppose this agreement with the same ferocity they directed at the JCPOA, or were those objections never really about the substance?

I am strongly in favor of reaching a diplomatic solution with Iran to cease hostilities, curb their nuclear ambition, and prevent the destabilization of the region—but let’s be clear: this agreement is not that. 

The agreement lacks transparency, so we cannot accurately comment on its scope or effectiveness. But from what we do know about it, it appears to fall far short of the JCPOA, which Trump famously scrapped. Under the JCPOA, there were international inspectors at every uranium enrichment plant in Iran, and the Iranians were required to sell all their enriched uranium to the Russians, which they did under international supervision. It sounds like Trump's deal costs more and does less. Thousands of people have died, billions of dollars have been wasted, and the cost of oil has skyrocketed, causing huge inflation for no benefit at all. 

And all because Trump couldn't stand to admit that President Obama accomplished something worthwhile.

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