RECOMMENDED PIECE – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  Ray Takeyh, of the Council on Foreign Relations, has written one of the best pieces I've seen on the Iran nuclear agreement.  Takeyh clearly demonstrates the fallacy behind the reasoning that President Obama and Secretary Kerry are using to sell the deal.  From the Washington Post: 

The nuclear deal between the United States and Iran is already proving to be one of the most controversial arms-control agreements in history. All key aspects of the accord, from its enforcement mechanisms to its sunset clauses to its verification system, are subjects of contention. However, in the end, the viability of this deal rests not so much on technical formulations but on something as ephemeral as hope: the hope that once the deal’s essential restrictions fade in a decade, Iran will have been transformed into a responsible member of the global society; the hope that with the passage of time, the theocratic state will shed its revolutionary attire and become a reliable member of the international community. This is a big bet to place on one of the most peculiar regimes in modern times.

The notion that revolutionary regimes evolve to accept the legitimacy of the international order has many precedents. Indeed, most revolutionary states eventually concede their animosities for the sake of commerce and trade. Pragmatism often overwhelms rigid orthodoxy. Today, for instance, China’s foreign policy is hardly shaped by Mao’s call for Marxist mobilization against the world order. President Obama is seemingly convinced that once Iran’s interests are taken into account by the world and its coffers filled, it too will find the temptations of pragmatism difficult to resist. But this view displays little understanding of the clerical state and the unique role that religion plays in its self-image.

Finally...

The legacy of the nuclear agreement will not be a transformed Iran but a revolutionary regime possessing an elaborate nuclear infrastructure and seeking to dominate the Middle East. In the end, the shadow of this deal is likely to haunt the United States’ interests in the region for years to come.

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  It's brilliantly persuasive.

August 10, 2015