This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/us/politics/obama-speaking-to-veterans-defends-diplomacy-over-war-in-iran-deal.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Obama Compares Critics of Iran Deal to Iraq War Hawks | Obama Compares Critics of Iran Deal to Iraq War Hawks |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| PITTSBURGH — President Obama said Tuesday that opponents of the nuclear deal with Iran were behaving like those who pushed for war with Iraq more than a decade ago, and said the United States should choose diplomacy instead of another rush to armed conflict. | PITTSBURGH — President Obama said Tuesday that opponents of the nuclear deal with Iran were behaving like those who pushed for war with Iraq more than a decade ago, and said the United States should choose diplomacy instead of another rush to armed conflict. |
| In remarks to members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mr. Obama said the criticism of the Iran agreement offered “echoes of some of the same mind-set and policies that failed us in the past,” and was being put forward by “the same folks who were so quick to go to war in Iraq.” | In remarks to members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mr. Obama said the criticism of the Iran agreement offered “echoes of some of the same mind-set and policies that failed us in the past,” and was being put forward by “the same folks who were so quick to go to war in Iraq.” |
| The president did not mention President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney by name in his remarks, but the implication was clear. As he seeks to persuade members of Congress not to reject the Iran deal, Mr. Obama urged what he called “a smarter, more responsible way to protect our national security.” | The president did not mention President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney by name in his remarks, but the implication was clear. As he seeks to persuade members of Congress not to reject the Iran deal, Mr. Obama urged what he called “a smarter, more responsible way to protect our national security.” |
| Instead of “chest-beating,” he said, America should agree that “strong and disciplined diplomacy” is the best way to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon that would threaten the Middle East. | Instead of “chest-beating,” he said, America should agree that “strong and disciplined diplomacy” is the best way to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon that would threaten the Middle East. |
| After the nuclear agreement with Iran was announced, Mr. Cheney, who has continued to defend the invasion of Iraq, accused the Obama administration of sanctioning the Iranian government’s acquisition of nuclear weapons in the future. | After the nuclear agreement with Iran was announced, Mr. Cheney, who has continued to defend the invasion of Iraq, accused the Obama administration of sanctioning the Iranian government’s acquisition of nuclear weapons in the future. |
| “It’s a matter of months until we’re going to see a situation where other people feel they have to defend themselves by acquiring their own capability,” Mr. Cheney said last week on Fox News. “And that will in fact, I think, put us closer to use — actual use — of nuclear weapons than we’ve been at any time since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.” | “It’s a matter of months until we’re going to see a situation where other people feel they have to defend themselves by acquiring their own capability,” Mr. Cheney said last week on Fox News. “And that will in fact, I think, put us closer to use — actual use — of nuclear weapons than we’ve been at any time since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.” |
| William Kristol, the founder of The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine, and a vocal advocate of the Iraq war after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has been harshly critical of the negotiations with Iran and of the agreement announced by the United States and other nations. In a blog post on the magazine’s website titled “A Very Good Deal — for Iran,” Mr. Kristol called the agreement “a deal worse than even we imagined possible,” adding, “This deal cannot stand.” | |
| Mr. Obama, in his remarks promoting the Iran deal, said the agreement would not stop the United States from fighting Iran’s support for terrorism and its other destabilizing actions across the region. And he called angrily for Iran to release Americans who are being held prisoner there. | |
| “We are not going to relent until we bring home our Americans who are unjustly detained in Iran,” Mr. Obama said, answering critics of his efforts to free the Americans held or missing in Iran. “Journalist Jason Rezaian should be released. Pastor Saeed Abedini should be released. Amir Hekmati, a former sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, should be released. Iran needs to help us find Robert Levinson.” | |
| Mr. Obama appeared before the veterans group about a year after a scandal over long waiting lists at some veterans’ hospitals, and some officials’ efforts to conceal them, forced out the top official at the Department of Veterans Affairs and embarrassed the administration. The president said Tuesday that the department was improving its delivery of health care in the wake of those problems. | |
| Since then, Mr. Obama said, the department has expanded access to care. Its doctors and nurses have handled 2.7 million more appointments this year than last year, and officials have authorized almost one million more patients to see outside doctors. | Since then, Mr. Obama said, the department has expanded access to care. Its doctors and nurses have handled 2.7 million more appointments this year than last year, and officials have authorized almost one million more patients to see outside doctors. |
| But the department’s increase in capacity has nevertheless been swamped by the increase in need, officials have said. In some areas, visits to veterans’ hospitals have increased by as much as 20 percent. | |
| The increased demand for health care services has added to delays: The number of veterans on waiting lists of one month or more is now 50 percent higher than it was a year ago, officials said. | The increased demand for health care services has added to delays: The number of veterans on waiting lists of one month or more is now 50 percent higher than it was a year ago, officials said. |
| “On average,” Mr. Obama said, “veterans are waiting just a few days for an appointment.” But he added, “Our work is not done,” and said Veterans Affairs officials and lawmakers who control spending must confront continuing delays at some of the department’s hospitals and a $2.6 billion budget shortfall this year. | |
| “In some places, wait times are higher than they were last year,” the president told the several hundred veterans in the convention center here. “So I want you to know, I’m not satisfied.” | |
| In an opinion article published in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday before Mr. Obama’s appearance here, Representative Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, criticized the president for not making the problems at the department a priority. | In an opinion article published in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday before Mr. Obama’s appearance here, Representative Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, criticized the president for not making the problems at the department a priority. |
| “It is long past time for President Barack Obama to become personally engaged in fixing V.A.,” Mr. Miller wrote. | “It is long past time for President Barack Obama to become personally engaged in fixing V.A.,” Mr. Miller wrote. |
| “Our veterans deserve better than this ongoing circus of failure, cover-up and scandal,” he added. “Even if we give the V.A. all the money it asks for, I have come to expect the department will release more shockingly bad news next week, next month and next year.” | “Our veterans deserve better than this ongoing circus of failure, cover-up and scandal,” he added. “Even if we give the V.A. all the money it asks for, I have come to expect the department will release more shockingly bad news next week, next month and next year.” |
| Veterans’ groups have been critical of Republican lawmakers and of the administration, accusing both sides of failing to come together to find a solution that will benefit veterans. | Veterans’ groups have been critical of Republican lawmakers and of the administration, accusing both sides of failing to come together to find a solution that will benefit veterans. |