Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA07): “The outlines of [Trump’s Iran] deal are still not completely clear, but the strategic folly here ranks among America’s worst.”

I’ll post reactions, below, by Virginia elected officials to Trump’s whatever-the-hell-it-is with Iran. First, here’s Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA07), who nails it on Trump’s disastrous war of choice with Iran (after he tored up the Obama-negotiated JCPOA, for absolutely no good reason).

Peace? This thing isn’t even signed yet. After tens of billions of dollars, American lives lost, and higher prices at the pump and grocery store, Republicans got us to a position worse than where we started. Still, I hope the ceasefire gets done. The only thing worse than this terrible “deal to make a deal” is the war continuing under the current leadership. The damage has already been done. American families are paying the price for this conflict, and I remain concerned about its long-term impact on the region and American leadership. The outlines of this deal are still not completely clear, but the strategic folly here ranks among America’s worst.

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11):

“We’re negotiating for things that we had before Trump launched this unauthorized war. We’re negotiating to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that was wide open before the war started We’re negotiating to be able to negotiate around Iran’s nuclear program and that was happening and could have happened before the war started. So from a strategic perspective, we’ve made absolutely no progress after losing the lives of 13 brave service members and spending tens and tens of billions of dollars…But I think one thing is clear at this point. No one seems to be suggesting there’s a deal where Iran is going to agree now to give up their nuclear material, which is the…stated reason…that Donald Trump started this reckless, unauthorized war. So he’s not getting what he said he wanted to get when he started this war, there’s no question about that. To have a negotiation to negotiate more about the nuclear material could have done that without the war. In fact, we were doing that before the war started.”

Next, here’s Sen. Tim Kaine’s statement:

KAINE STATEMENT ON U.S.-IRAN AGREEMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement regarding the agreement reached between the United States and Iran:

“I welcome news of progress in talks to end the war between the United States and Iran, which has now passed the 100-day mark. I have the deepest appreciation for the thousands of U.S. servicemembers, including many from Virginia, who remain deployed to the region.

“While any movement toward ending this war is a positive development, it won’t bring back those who lost their lives, nor will it bring gas prices back to pre-war levels. It also doesn’t change the fact that this was an entirely unnecessary war whose outcome was both predictable and preventable. The United States had a carefully negotiated nuclear agreement with Iran until President Trump tore it up during his first term over the objections of his own Secretaries of State and Defense. That decision will go down as one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in American history—one that was made even more catastrophic by the President’s decision to launch a reckless, deeply unpopular, and illegal conflict.

“I urge all parties to continue negotiations over the nuclear program in good faith—diplomacy is the only real path to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. If more war were the answer to lasting peace in the Middle East, we would have found it a long time ago. The details of any agreement with the Iranian regime, including any financial or sanctions relief, must be carefully scrutinized. I echo my Republican colleagues in reminding the Trump Administration that any comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran must, by law, be submitted to Congress for review before it can take effect.”

Sen. Mark Warner: “Well, I guess we got a peace deal…108 days into this war, $60 billion in fuel costs…not counting higher fertilizer, airline tickets, other costs; 70%-80% of our missile interceptors have been used up; Iran still has 60% of its missile capacity; we have no idea if or when or whether we’ll actually get the enriched uranium; their ability to close down the Strait of Hormuz going forward is not tempered; and the regime in many ways is more radical and emboldened than before. If this is Donald Trump’s version of winning, I don’t think we can stand much more winning.”