Elizabeth Price Foley on Corker-Menendez:
If Congress can somehow get Corker-Menendez enacted, would it bind the President, or would he be free to ignore it, claiming his own, independent Article II authority to negotiate “executive agreements” with other nations?
My own opinion, FWIW, is that any modification of statutorily-imposed sanctions on Iran (and there are many) would require amendment to those statutes, which is what Corker-Menendez seeks to accomplish. I am deeply concerned, however, that Obama will veto Corker-Menendez, Congress won’t have the votes to override, and Obama will (once again) act unilaterally, claiming broadly worked waiver provisions in existing statutes give him the authority to lift sanctions in his discretion. He will then support a UN Security Council resolution lifting sanctions (with little to no verification regime). Once this is done, the US will have little practical ability to back out, as Iran will have the “blessing” and cover of the world community/international law.
And why wouldn’t the world flock to Iran, given that even the US President has given his tacit-verging-on-explicit acknowledgment that Tehran, not Washington, is to be the region’s next powerbroker?
This is the Obama Doctrine — surrendering American power and influence, and opening doors for Islamic radicals.
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