LETTER TO THE EDITOR / THE IRANIAN DEAL

An unattainable perfect deal should not become the enemy of a potentially good deal.  Multilateral diplomacy is difficult, frustrating, time consuming and requires creativity and compromise.  When possible, however, it is superior to US war, invasion and occupation as a tool for international stability and national security.

After decades of hostility and two years of struggle, the US and five diverse and powerful nations (England, France, Germany, China and Russia) reached an imperfect agreement with Iran that benefits all parties and the Middle East.  The complex deal is designed to be safer than the status quo, an Iran with nuclear weapons, a nuclear arms race or war, but future leaders must make this a reality.  A perfect deal would have guaranteed a magical transformation (and regime change) in Iran that made them a polite, pacifist, compliant US ally – which isn’t realistic in the near term.

The details of the Iran accord should be studied and debated, but it was never intended to be the end of all conflicts with that Islamic Republic.  With multilateral vigilance and cooperation the agreement could be the BEGINNING of important progress that benefits all peoples in the region and the US.

Roger C. Kostmayer

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