AIPAC targeting vulnerable Democrats over Iran agreement: Analyst

The main Israeli lobbying group in Washington, AIPAC, has started targeting vulnerable Democrats in order to change their mind on the Iran nuclear agreement, an American political commentator in Boston says. 

“The foreign lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC], is going into specific districts and trying to pressure Democrats who might be vulnerable in the next election cycle,” said Daniel Patrick Welch, a candid critic of US foreign policy.

“And what they’ll do is paint anyone who doesn’t toe the line as being against Israel, and anti-Semitic etc, etc - the usual line. And they spend a lot of money doing that,” he added.

Welch made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Thursday when asked to comment on a report which says the Obama administration is confronting a tougher-than-expected fight with Congress over the Iran nuclear accord and is struggling to get enough votes to ensure its survival.

Welch said it’s difficult to figure out what President Barack Obama is up against.  

“Basically, there’s a very little daylight between the rightwing and the leftwing in US politics, specifically when it comes to foreign policy, even less so when it comes to foreign policy that pertains to the Middle East,” he stated.

“You saw this with all of the wars. You know, Democrats were on board, when they [Republicans] started several of them,” he added.

“So it’s not really a left/right continuum, except that there is a right flank - there’s no left flank in American politics - there is a right flank,” the analyst observed.

He went on to say that “what we should keep in mind is that this is a choice between bad and worst. There’s no way that there’s time when Americans will finally give up on harassing Iran and everything will be smooth sailing.”

The Obama administration has been trying to allay Republican American lawmakers’ concerns over the conclusion of Iran nuclear talks reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries - the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany – in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

According to the text of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran will be recognized by the United Nations as a nuclear power and will continue its uranium enrichment program.

But some restrictions will be placed on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Most Republicans oppose the nuclear agreement with Iran, but they need a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress to override a possible presidential veto, and to reach that threshold, Republicans need Democratic support.

“The deal itself is a complete sham. It should never have happened. It doesn’t need to happen. There doesn’t need to have been any sanctions,” Welch said.

“Nobody is talking about Israel’s massive nuclear stockpile. And they are talking only about Iran’s non-existent nuclear capacity. So that kind of it was always a scam just to pressure Iran, because they are angry about the [Islamic] Revolution,” he stated.

“They are not in the business of changing that foreign policy; the only toggle is between the rightwing and the super rightwing,” he pointed out.

“The neocons, with the aid of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, want to keep this kind of lying going on - full-spectrum dominance. Any threat that emerges to American hegemony has to be thrashed everywhere, all the time, at all times,” the political commentator emphasized.

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