http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/250316-obama-draws-comparison-between-iraq-war-iran-vote By Jordan Fabian - 08/05/15 12:31 PM EDT
President Obama on Wednesday made a forceful case for congressional approval of his nuclear deal with Iran, arguing a vote on the agreement is the most consequential foreign policy decision for lawmakers since the Iraq War.
Obama, who ran for president in 2008 opposing the unpopular war, used a sweeping address to dismiss politicians who oppose the Iran deal as the same people who authorized the conflict in Iraq.
“Many of same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal,” Obama said from American University, a site chosen by the White House to draw comparisons to President John F. Kennedy.
“More than a decade later, we still live with the consequences of the decision to invade Iraq,” Obama said.
The president’s comparison to the 2002 decision to invade Iraq could help him drum up support among Democrats as they decide whether to endorse the accord.
Many Democrats, including several top Obama administration officials, voted for the war but later said they regretted the decision.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president in 2016, recently called her vote in favor of the war a “mistake.” Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, the chief U.S. negotiator on the Iran deal, also voted for the war as senators.
Obama drew parallels to the Kennedy’s 1963 speech from American University in which he called for negotiating with the Soviet Union in order to avoid war between two nuclear powers.
The president said the Iran accord “builds on a tradition of strong principled diplomacy” that Kennedy used to head off the Cuban missile crisis.
Obama used the comparison to rebut critics who argue the U.S. should not negotiate with a fierce adversary such as Iran.
He said it was “diplomacy, not saber-rattling, not tough talk” that brought Iran to the table.
The president's speech is part of an intense lobbying campaign on both sides to sway lawmakers during their August recess.
The House and Senate are expected to vote on a resolution disapproving of the deal in September.
The measure is expected to pass the House, but it is not clear whether it will survive a filibuster in the Senate.
If it does win 60 votes and clear the Senate, the question will be whether opponents can muster two-thirds majorities in each chamber to override a promised Obama veto.
