"I would give it an A": Why nuclear experts love the Iran deal

[PoliticAverse]

Jeffrey Lewis was so eager to read the Iran nuclear deal that he woke up at 3:30 am California time to pore through all 150-plus pages of the text. Lewis is a nukes super nerd: He's the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and also runs an excellent arms control blog network and arms control podcast and has a regular arms control column in Foreign Policy. He is the person to talk to on this.

When Lewis and I first spoke, in early 2015, he was skeptical, as a lot of arms control analysts were. He was skeptical that the US, world powers, and Iran would ever reach a nuclear deal. And he was skeptical that if they did reach a deal, it would be good enough. But when the negotiators released the "framework" in April, describing the broad strokes, Lewis came away impressed and happily surprised — but with some caveats and some unanswered questions.

I called up Lewis to see what he thought of the final deal. His assessment was very positive: Asked to grade the deal, he said, "I would give it an A."

Read the rest at: http://www.vox.com/2015/7/15/8967147/iran-nuclear-deal-jeffrey-lewis

[rogerashton]

1. Good, given the history.

Compared to the deal we could have gotten 10 years ago, if the Bush administration hadn't had their heads up their butts? Not an A! That would have been a great deal!

[Nitram]

2. But why should we care what nuclear experts say?

Aren't right wing politicians much more knowledgeable about the intricacies of nuclear arms control?

[Scarsdale]

3. Not so fast.

$arah PayMe and her pregnant, unmaried daughter are VERY upset. PayMe is asking her supporters to donate $15 to her Pac, so she can fight this. In their expert opinion, this deal is really, really bad.

[Nitram]

4. $arah has found a con game that works for her, and she's playing it for all it's worth

Two-bit scheming scam artist.

[SunSeeker]

8. She's a scam, but it's kinda hard to feel sorry for the fools who are sending her money. nt

[Nitram]

11. Yes it is, as they love her for her hate-filled rants.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. A fool and their money are soon parted. nt

[IHateTheGOP]

5. Best President in modern times.

[underpants]

6. Excellent read

[ejbr]

13. Agreed

Especially how he distinguishes between those who focus on arms and those whose focus is relationships

[tclambert]

7. Oh, fine, nuclear experts, sure, but what do CELEBRITIES have to say about it?

You know, Brooks Shields and Tom Cruise, any Kardashian, somebody who's been on Dancing with the Stars. Those are the people Americans listen to.

[Sentath]

12. Channing Tatum and Rihanna seem fairly pleased with it

http://gawker.com/channing-tatum-and-rihanna-explain-the-iran-nuclear-dea-1718253971

[SunSeeker]

9. It avoids a war and stops nuke production.

It gets an A from me and most Americans.

[Hekate]

10. That's what I thought it would be, but it's always nice to have yet another expert weigh in

Speaking as a non-expert, this is making me really happy.

[Charles de Gaudless]

16. I worry about our Congress Of Cowards

Bowing to Bibi.