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2021-03-25t000000z_1095822690_rc2him95eu6w_rtrmadp_3_iran-usa-senators-scaled

Poll: Americans have no taste for war with Iran

On the eve of a new round of JCPOA talks, a new survey shows that today's saber rattling is a bit unwelcome.

Middle East

On the eve of a new round of negotiations between the world’s powers and Iran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, the vast majority of voters believe that the United States should use diplomacy — and not military force — to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, according to a recent poll from Data For Progress.

In a survey of 1,330 likely voters, 78 percent of respondents said Washington must use its best diplomatic tools to “put an immediate end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” while only 12 percent agreed with the statement that the United States “must go to war with Iran in order to slow down its nuclear weapons development.” (It should be noted that despite the poll’s wording, the U.S. intelligence community and the International Atomic Energy Agency have not at this time made an assessment that Iran is embarking on a nuclear weapons program.)

The poll shows a range of potentially strong messages for those who advocate a return to the Iran nuclear deal. It also indicates that, even after two years of President Joe Biden dragging his feet on a return to the accord, Americans have little appetite for alternative approaches to resolving the issue.

In a second framing of the question, 74 percent of likely voters polled said they supported a deal that would use international monitoring to stop Iran’s nuclear program from progressing. On the other side, eight percent favored military action that would set the program back “by years,” and five percent supported the current path, even if it would allow Iran to develop a weapon in the next year.

Notably, the survey showed that a slim majority (56 percent) of Republicans would support a “new agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program,” even if that accord was based on the original deal.

If Iran does manage to develop a nuclear weapon, respondents said overwhelmingly that they would primarily blame either Biden or former President Donald Trump. Responses fell along partisan lines, with 62 percent of Democrats blaming Trump and 61 percent of Republicans putting the responsibility on Biden’s shoulders.


FILE PHOTO: Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) hold a news conference on the death of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 12, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Middle East
Nigeria
Top image credit: A U.S. Army soldier (2R) trains Nigerian Army soldiers at a military compound in Jaji, Nigeria, February 14, 2018. To match Special Report NIGERIA-MILITARY/INTERNATIONAL Capt. James Sheehan/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS

US arming Nigeria is becoming a crime against humanity

Africa

The very week the United States’ Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a $346 million arms sale to Nigeria, the U.S. State Department also released its 2024 Country report on human rights practices in the West African country.

The report, which has previously affected the country’s eligibility for security assistance, confirmed what civil society groups have been saying for years: that the security forces of Nigeria, Washington’s most significant ally in Sub-Saharan Africa, habitually operate with impunity and without due regard for human rights protection — a key condition for receiving U.S. security cooperation.

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Top photo credit: Oracle PR/Hartmann Studios/Creative Commons

TikTok investor: 'Embed the love and respect for Israel' in the US

Washington Politics

The $14 billion deal to transfer TikTok’s ownership away from ByteDance, a company with roots in China, may be the culmination of the Biden and Trump administration’s efforts to force divestment of Chinese-linked ownership in the social media behemoth. Fears over foreign influence at TikTok undergirded the campaign but an executive at one of the new investors has expressed a commitment to influencing U.S. public opinion in favor of Israel.

In a previously unreported email released as part of a hack of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s email account, Oracle CEO Safra Catz explicitly expressed a commitment to influencing U.S. public opinion in favor of Israel. Catz, writing in February 16, 2015, urged Barak to sign on as a consulting producer for a reality TV show about “Women of the IDF” with the goal of “human[izing] the IDF in the eyes of the American public.” (The show, created by Sarit Catz, Safra’s sister, ultimately premiered in 2024 without Ehud Barak as a consulting producer.)

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Putin Trump
Top photo credit: Vladimir Putin (Office of the Executive of the Federation of Russia) and Donald Trump (Michael C. Dougherty, U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs)

Russia likely laughing off Trump's 'open door' to Tomahawks

Europe

When asked on Sunday if reports that President Donald Trump was considering providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles were true, Vice President J.D. Vance left the door open.

The President was selling, not gifting, weapons to Ukraine, Vance clarified, and would make the final decision about what capabilities Ukraine might receive.

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