‘There are some things that people in the other party do that do make sense…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a vocal NeverTrumper and current CNN analyst, blamed the president on Monday for the escalation of tensions in Iran, accusing Trump of having played politics with the Obama administration’s controversial nuclear agreement.
Without citing the intelligence information that led him to his conclusions, Kasich said Iran had been honoring the deal and that President Donald Trump’s withdrawal was based on nothing more than a knee-jerk determination to undo his predecessor’s legacy.
“There was no violation of the Iran nuclear agreement,” Kasich said on CNN, according to Raw Story. “The president ignored the whole thing.”
The negotiations, led by Obama Secretary of State John Kerry, delivered a confirmed $50 billion in cash to the rogue Islamic republic, although Trump has indicated the total package may have been closer to $150 billion.
The agreement, which was not approved by Congress, drew considerable criticism, particularly after it was revealed that Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, had spearheaded a misinformation campaign to sell it to the media and public under false pretenses.
Iran is believed to be one of the chief sponsors, both direct and indirect, of terrorism in neighboring regions like Syria and Lebanon.
Trump said Kerry’s Geneva accord was a “horrible” deal and withdrew, reinstating U.S. sanctions.
Kerry was later revealed to have met with Iranian officials, in possible violation of the Logan Act, to encourage them to resist the current administration’s policies.
Although Kasich claimed that European allies have been enforcing the agreement and ensuring that Iran upheld its end of the bargain, Israeli intelligence previously indicated otherwise.
“Now we withdrew, and it’s possible that they’ll restart their program,” Kasich said on CNN.
Reports suggest that Iran already has ramped up its uranium enrichment while threatening to attack U.S. forces in neighboring regions like Iraq.
The Defense Department responded last week by deploying aircraft carriers and B-52 bombers to the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on CNN that “There will be painful consequences for everybody [if] there is an escalation against Iran, that’s for sure,” according to an AFP report.
Kasich’s rant more broadly criticized Trump for his efforts to reverse a number of Obama policies—from trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the Affordable Care Act.
“You know what we’re doing with Iran? Because it was Obama’s,” he said. “So here we are in this trade war that’s hurting farmers.”
Kasich, during his term as Ohio governor, was elected as a Republican but often clashed with the GOP legislature and was more popular with the opposition than with his own party in the Buckeye State.
“There are some things that people in the other party do that do make sense,” he said.