Sunday Roudup (POLITICS)
This week, the framework of a deal on curbing Iran's nuclear capabilities was announced. Existing stockpiles of enriched uranium will be reduced by 97 percent, centrifuges by two-thirds, along with what President Obama called a "robust and intrusive" inspection regime -- if adhered to, the deal would make a bomb impossible for at least 10 years. "It will make our country, our allies and our world safer," said Obama. In short, a tentative victory for all. Except, of course, those cheerleaders of the disastrous Iraq War pining to launch a sequel. Speaker Boehner vowed to ask "tough questions" -- something Congress failed to do 12 years ago in the run up to Shock and Awe. And Sen. Mark Kirk has already trotted out the Iraq playbook, predicting this is "going to end with a mushroom cloud somewhere near Tehran." But at least this time around we have a much clearer picture of what listening to cynical references to mushroom clouds can lead to.