To the editor:
Re "White House Chides Schumer for Protest of Counterterrorism Cuts" (The New York Times, Feb. 17), White House spokesman Josh Earnest goes a bit overboard in attacking Senator Chuck Schumer in saying "he was wrong" about opposing the JCPOA with Iran.
Although Schumer was on the losing side in the political maneuvering, it's way too early to know for sure who was wrong about the deal. All we know is that Iran was able to meet President Obama's bar for removing sanctions, including an estimated $150 billion signing bonus, but that's no great surprise, especially since we didn't even insist on Iran coming clean on the possible military dimensions of its past nuclear activity.
We do know the price of the agreement has already been steep, as Iran has stepped up its hostility towards America and its support for terror around the world. One would expect our government to react, minimally, by increasing rather than decreasing our counterterrorism efforts.
I have not always been enamored of Chuck Schumer, even standing on the street corners in Brooklyn urging citizens to vote for one of his opponents in his very first political campaign, but applaud him for having the wisdom and courage to place the welfare of America and the world above partisan political considerations both in his opposition to the heavily flawed Iran deal and his criticism of the ill-conceived counterterrorism cuts.
Sincerely,
Alan Stein