Iran deal features defense backstop

Ash Carter – USA Today

Today, the Iran deal provides the opportunity to address an even greater nuclear threat. Congress should support it because, once implemented, the deal will remove a critical source of risk and uncertainty in a vitally important but tumultuous region. Indeed, the deal is best seen as a part of our broader strategic approach to the Middle East, which aims to defend American interests, protect our friends, especially Israel, and confront the region’s two principal security challenges, the Islamic State terrorist group and Iran.

No one is saying this deal will fix every problem with Iran or in the Middle East. While it removes the greatest danger — Iran with a nuclear weapon — the deal does not address Iran’s extensive malign activities in the region. But because the deal places no limits whatsoever on the United States military, it will not hinder America’s strategic approach to the region or our military’s important work to check those destabilizing activities and stand by our friends in the Middle East

(Read the entire op-ed here)