Iran’s Ayatollah Sends New Letter to Obama Amid Nuclear Talks Feb 13, 2015
Posted on 02/19/2015 11:45:23 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
A group of 23 liberal House Democrats urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday to delay Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress next month.
In the letter spearheaded by Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the lawmakers argued that Netanyahu was being used as a "political tool" against President Obama.
"As members of Congress who support Israel, we share concern that it appears that you are using a foreign leader as a political tool against the president," they wrote.
Netanyahu's March 3 address will be just two weeks before the Israeli elections and while international negotiators work on a deal with Iran to curtail the country's nuclear weapons program. Netanyahu is expected to focus on the Iran negotiations in his speech and call for harsher sanctions.
Instead of March 3, the House Democrats suggested, Netanyahu's speech could be moved to some time after the Israeli elections.
"We strongly urge you to postpone this invitation until Israelis have cast their ballots and the deadline for diplomatic negotiations with Iran has passed. When the Israeli Prime Minister visits us outside the specter of partisan politics, we will be delighted and honored to greet him or her on the floor of the House," they wrote to Boehner.
The Democrats warned that Boehner's invitation to Netanyahu violated protocol, as it was scheduled without input from the Obama administration or congressional Democrats.
"We very much appreciate that Prime Minister Netanyahu has twice had the honor of speaking before a joint session. However, at this time your invitation is contrary to the standards by which our Congress operates and has the potential to harm U.S. foreign policy," the lawmakers wrote.
They further argued that Netanyahu's speech would put a wrench in the international negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group of world powers on Iran's nuclear program. President Obama threatened to veto legislation that would establish new sanctions against Iran during his State of the Union address last month.
"The timing of this invitation and lack of coordination with the White House indicate that this is not an ordinary diplomatic visit. Rather this appears to be an attempt to promote new sanctions legislation against Iran that could undermine critical negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran," they wrote.
On Wednesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest denied that the U.S. was cutting Israel out of the loop on the Iran talks. Officials have accused Israel of selectively leaking details about the talks to undermine negotiations.
Ellison, Cohen and Waters have been circulating the letter over the last week to collect signatures from fellow Democrats.
The other Democratic signatories of the letter were Reps. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), André Carson (Ind.), John Conyers (Mich.), Danny Davis (Ill.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Betty McCollum (Minn.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Jim McDermott (Wash.), Beto O'Rourke (Texas), Donald Payne (N.J.), Chellie Pingrie (Maine), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Mark Takano (Calif.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.), Peter Welch (Vt.) and John Yarmuth (Ky.).
“delay” means cancel. If it get delayed it will never happen.
“Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)”
aka The Three Stooges
Has the cave clock started yet?
Screw the ‘RATS!
The thing is ... Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ALREADY BE HERE at that exact time at AIPAC. And he is a featured speaker there! Netanyahu is ALREADY SPEAKING in the USA, at that very same time!
Kieth Ellison does not support Israel.
Maxine Walters couldn’t find Israel on a map.
Congressional Black Caucus ?
Hmmm. Let's see 23 is 4.3% of all 535 congressional reps and senators.
The only people who will even notice their absence are Rachel Maddow and the rest of her crew at MSNBC, and the anchors at CNN, CBS and ABC News.
Who cares? These people are just playing up to their radica leftist voting base.
Maxine water could barely find her ass with both hands and a flashlight
Maxine Waters couldn’t find her own bum with a flashlight and a ten man working party. She’s a leading democrat.
I suspect they fear that Netanyahu will hit a home run with his speech and bolster his support in the upcoming Israeli elections. Just a guess.
“Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), a former Navy SEAL Team Six commander and freshman in Congress, is slamming the Obama administration’s conference intended to counter violent extremism.
“I think it’s a slap in the face to Israel,” Zinke, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday during an interview on FOX News’s “On the Record.”
Zinke also accused the administration of inviting “a terrorist sympathizer” to speak at the conference, referring to Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who said after 9/11 that Israel should be on the “suspect list” for the destruction of the World Trade Center.
He contrasted the invitation from the administration with House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) request that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address Congress.
“I think the contrast is clear. Israel has been our partner in the war on terrorism,” Zinke said. “And certainly, this is why our allies don’t trust us, and our enemies no longer fear us.”................................
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/233209-gop-lawmaker-wh-summit-is-slap-in-face-to-israel
And make the Democrats look like appeasers and weak. Oh man, I can’t wait for Bibi to let it loose in the House chamber.
This exposes the left in a big way, that’s why freaking out. Also makes their messiah look like the weak ass he is.
Give em hell Bibi!! can’t wait to hear the speech.
I looked at the full methodology and text of the poll because this article ratted the poll out.
“...a political tool”
Said the political tools.
Yeah, delay it until Iran lights off its first nuke. That’s exactly what King Obongo wants.
well then, all the democrats in both houses should send a letter to Iran and demand they postpone their development of nuclear weapons because it will make obozo look worse than he already looks
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