THE OPEN LETTER FROM THE 47 GOP “TRAITORS” IS RESPONDED TO FROM AMERICA

…The 47 U.S. Senate “Traitors”

 

At least the American public and an Army General are aware that it is not the job of the US Congress for dealing with foreign countries.

 

We have now heard the noise made by President Obama, and the American Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress regarding the 47 GOP signatories to the open letter sent to the leaders in Iran.  The somewhat crudely written letter has unfortunately caused some compromise of the sensitive weapons negotiations between seven nations, including the US, China, Russia, France, UK, Germany, and Iran.

But now, we are hearing some of the comments from the different foreign ministers and the American public about what they think the letter’s effect has been on the reputation of the United States.

“Suddenly, Iran can say to us: ‘Are your proposals actually trustworthy if 47 senators say that no matter what the government agrees to, we can subsequently take it off the table?’ ” This was the comment from the German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, during his latest visit to Washington.

Even before Steinmeier’s visit, Germany, Britain and France had repeatedly expressed concern about congressional interference in the talks.  Ambassadors from these three Western European countries have been seen on Capitol Hill as they are trying to persuade lawmakers to hold off on supporting any new Iran sanctions or any legislation related to the negotiations, at least while they are underway.

Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif had replied to the letter calling it a 'propaganda ploy.'  Zarif expressed astonishment that some members of US Congress find it appropriate to write to leaders of another country against their own President and administration. He pointed out that from reading the open letter, it seems that the authors do not understand international law.  In addition, they are not fully aware of how their own Constitution works when it comes to presidential powers in the conduct of foreign policy.

The 47 lawmakers obviously are so naive that they have no clue as to the message they are sending to all of the countries that already have agreements with the United States.  What they are apparently saying is, “You foreign governments that have thousands of important agreements with America. From now on, if you want to have confidence in your dealings with America, you will have to negotiate with the 535 members of Congress.”

As the Secretary of State John Kerry stated, “The partisan letter from the lawmakers undermines the confidence that foreign governments have in thousands of important US agreements.”

This inappropriate letter has also brought on an interesting response from both the core of the American public through the power of today’s social media and from a retired US Army Major General. 

First the retired general.

Retired Major General Paul D. Eaton was asked if the Iran letter, authored by an Army veteran, now Senator Tom Cotton (R-OH), was treasonous.  

The general wouldn’t say Cotton and the other 46 were “traitors”.  Instead, he said:  “I would use the word mutinous.  I do not believe these senators were trying to sell out America. I do believe they defied the chain of command in what could be construed as an illegal act.  What Senator Cotton did is a gross breach of discipline, and especially as a veteran of the Army, he should know better.  I have no issue with Senator Cotton, or the others, voicing their opinion in opposition to any deal to halt Iran’s nuclear progress. Speaking out on these issues is clearly part of his job. But to directly engage a foreign entity, in this way, undermining the strategy and work of our diplomats and our Commander in Chief, strains the very discipline and structure that our foreign relations depend on, to succeed”.  

General Eaton trained Iraqi forces from 2003 to 2004, and is now a senior advisor to VoteVets.org.  He said this in closing: “I expect better from the men and women who wore the uniform”.  

Now, from the American public.

There is now a viral We The People Petition circulating via social media asking for legal action to be taken against the so called, “47 traitors”. Up to this point, the petition had garnered over 300,000 signatures in less than five days. Of course, the chance of criminal charges and convictions is highly doubtful. But what is most important here is that this petition gives the American public a chance to voice their own anger and indignation against the likes of John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio and the 42 other GOP members of Congress who signed the highly dangerous correspondence.

In addition to the above petition, the new Twitter hashtag #GOPWantsWar began seriously trending during a Twitter Bomb.  Plus, a Facebook page called Americans Against Republican Wars was created this week. The American people are truly pissed off, as they rightfully should be.

When will these idiots in the US Congress understand that the responsibility of the executive branch of US government is for dealing with foreign affairs?  It is not the business of the US Congress.

Copyright G.Ater  2015