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| It’s Either Iran Nuclear Deal or ‘Some Sort of War,’ Obama Warns | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — President Obama took on critics of the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers in an aggressive speech on Wednesday, saying they were heeding the same “drumbeat of war” and pressing the same kind of fear-fueled claims that led to the war in Iraq more than a decade ago. | WASHINGTON — President Obama took on critics of the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers in an aggressive speech on Wednesday, saying they were heeding the same “drumbeat of war” and pressing the same kind of fear-fueled claims that led to the war in Iraq more than a decade ago. |
| Mr. Obama, opening a new, more intense phase of his public campaign for the accord, portrayed the decision facing lawmakers to approve or reject the deal as their most consequential foreign policy choice since Congress voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and implored them to “shut out the noise” and back the deal. | Mr. Obama, opening a new, more intense phase of his public campaign for the accord, portrayed the decision facing lawmakers to approve or reject the deal as their most consequential foreign policy choice since Congress voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and implored them to “shut out the noise” and back the deal. |
| “Let’s not mince words: The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some sort of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon,” Mr. Obama told about 200 people at American University. “How can we in good conscience justify war before we’ve tested a diplomatic agreement that achieves our objectives?” | “Let’s not mince words: The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some sort of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon,” Mr. Obama told about 200 people at American University. “How can we in good conscience justify war before we’ve tested a diplomatic agreement that achieves our objectives?” |
| In a speech that invoked the legacy of John F. Kennedy, who in 1963 appeared on the same campus to make the case for a nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union, Mr. Obama was also returning to a theme of his own political trajectory. | In a speech that invoked the legacy of John F. Kennedy, who in 1963 appeared on the same campus to make the case for a nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union, Mr. Obama was also returning to a theme of his own political trajectory. |
| As a first-term senator, Mr. Obama rose to political prominence in part because of his strong opposition to the war in Iraq. It helped him win the 2008 Democratic nomination — defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton, who backed the invasion and later became his secretary of state — and the presidency. Now, as a second-term president working to defend an ambitious diplomatic nonproliferation accord with Iran, Mr. Obama is turning back to his party’s liberal, antiwar base to protect his legacy. | As a first-term senator, Mr. Obama rose to political prominence in part because of his strong opposition to the war in Iraq. It helped him win the 2008 Democratic nomination — defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton, who backed the invasion and later became his secretary of state — and the presidency. Now, as a second-term president working to defend an ambitious diplomatic nonproliferation accord with Iran, Mr. Obama is turning back to his party’s liberal, antiwar base to protect his legacy. |
| In doing so, he made an unusual, personal appeal to voters — more in keeping with a 30-second political television advertisement than a foreign policy address — urging them to contact their representatives and pressure them to accept the deal. | In doing so, he made an unusual, personal appeal to voters — more in keeping with a 30-second political television advertisement than a foreign policy address — urging them to contact their representatives and pressure them to accept the deal. |
| “Remind them of who we are, remind them of what is best in us and what we stand for,” Mr. Obama said. | “Remind them of who we are, remind them of what is best in us and what we stand for,” Mr. Obama said. |
| Mr. Obama savaged Republicans who are pressing forward with legislation to block the accord, which is on track for a vote in September. Opposition to the agreement, he said, stems from “knee-jerk partisanship that has become all too familiar, rhetoric that renders every decision made to be a disaster, a surrender. ‘You’re aiding terrorists; you’re endangering freedom.’” | Mr. Obama savaged Republicans who are pressing forward with legislation to block the accord, which is on track for a vote in September. Opposition to the agreement, he said, stems from “knee-jerk partisanship that has become all too familiar, rhetoric that renders every decision made to be a disaster, a surrender. ‘You’re aiding terrorists; you’re endangering freedom.’” |
| He said hard-liners in Iran who chant “death to America” are “making common cause with the Republican caucus.” | He said hard-liners in Iran who chant “death to America” are “making common cause with the Republican caucus.” |
| The speech came as pro-Israel groups, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, are sending hundreds of activists to lobby lawmakers to reject the deal and are planning to run more than $25 million in television advertising to rally opposition to it. The struggle is playing out this month as members of Congress leave Washington to face voters in their home states and districts. | The speech came as pro-Israel groups, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, are sending hundreds of activists to lobby lawmakers to reject the deal and are planning to run more than $25 million in television advertising to rally opposition to it. The struggle is playing out this month as members of Congress leave Washington to face voters in their home states and districts. |
| “If the rhetoric in these ads and the accompanying commentary sounds familiar, it should,” Mr. Obama said. “Many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal.” | “If the rhetoric in these ads and the accompanying commentary sounds familiar, it should,” Mr. Obama said. “Many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal.” |
| The debate over the agreement, which would lift some sanctions against Iran in exchange for new restrictions that aim to suppress its ability to obtain a nuclear weapon, has pitted Mr. Obama against Aipac in an unusually public feud. On Wednesday, the group pushed back forcefully on the president’s characterization of its campaign of opposition to the deal. | The debate over the agreement, which would lift some sanctions against Iran in exchange for new restrictions that aim to suppress its ability to obtain a nuclear weapon, has pitted Mr. Obama against Aipac in an unusually public feud. On Wednesday, the group pushed back forcefully on the president’s characterization of its campaign of opposition to the deal. |
| “To remove any misinformation or confusion, Aipac took no position whatsoever on the Iraq war nor did we lobby on this issue — this is an entirely false and misleading argument,” said Marshall Wittmann, the group’s communications director. | “To remove any misinformation or confusion, Aipac took no position whatsoever on the Iraq war nor did we lobby on this issue — this is an entirely false and misleading argument,” said Marshall Wittmann, the group’s communications director. |
| “It is our belief,” Mr. Wittmann continued, “that this agreement could lead to more terrorism, further regional conflict, spur nuclear proliferation and would fail to block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The alternative to this bad deal is definitely not war, but rather going back to the negotiating table and getting a better deal.” | “It is our belief,” Mr. Wittmann continued, “that this agreement could lead to more terrorism, further regional conflict, spur nuclear proliferation and would fail to block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The alternative to this bad deal is definitely not war, but rather going back to the negotiating table and getting a better deal.” |
| Republicans, too, criticized Mr. Obama’s speech. Reince Priebus, the party’s chairman, dismissed it as “shameful fear mongering.” House Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, circulated an emailed excerpt from a March address to Congress by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in which he railed against the deal and urged lawmakers to reject it. | Republicans, too, criticized Mr. Obama’s speech. Reince Priebus, the party’s chairman, dismissed it as “shameful fear mongering.” House Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, circulated an emailed excerpt from a March address to Congress by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in which he railed against the deal and urged lawmakers to reject it. |