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White House: Iran Sanctions Bills a ‘March to War’
Warns New Sanctions Would Derail Diplomacy
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By Jason Ditz, at antiwar.com
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The White House had for quite some time been quietly lobbying Congress to put its new sanctions bills against Iran on hold for the sake of diplomacy, but is now being very public with its opposition to the bills, calling them a “march to war” against Iran, and one that the American public opposes.
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White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the public “justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution,” warning that if the sanctions derail the talks it would leave war as the only alternative.
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Some Congressional hawks have been presenting more sanctions as a way to scare Iran into making more concessions, but others have opposed a deal at all costs, and are facing strong lobbying from Israel, which has complained that the deal would get in the way of their planned war.
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All of this is setting the stage for the Congressional battle to be much more public than it’s been in recent months, and with Israel planning to ratchet up its lobbying in the week left before the next round of talks with Iran, the rhetoric is likely to get more serious in the days to come.
