Obama likens Iran deal critics to Iraq war jingoists

President Barack Obama has asked US military veterans to support the Iran nuclear deal, denouncing what he called “chest-beating” critics as “some of the same politicians and pundits” who were “quick to want to go to war in Iraq and said it would only take a few months”.

“We’re not going to let up”, Obama said, referring to the agency’s current secretary Robert McDonald at the 116th annual conference of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Pittsburgh.

Yet Obama also says the deal will leave the next president better positioned to deal with Iran if it cheats, including the option of a USA military strike.

On Iran, he said that the just concluded nuclear deal will prove an effective block to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Following his remarks, the President will head to New York for his final taping of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

In discussing veterans’ policies overall, Obama also announced new rules to crack down on so-called “payday lenders” and others who prey on service members and their families.

“Despite replacement of the VA’s top leadership and more funding from Congress in the year since the wait list scandal, the situation within VA continues to deteriorate”, said a statement from Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America. President Obama is winning this debate because the American people are exhausted of war. “Veterans deserve and have earned access to the highest-quality health care in our nation, and instead of defending bureaucratic incompetence, I urge the President to get past the excuses and join us in finding solutions to fix this broken system”, said Dr. Dan Benishek, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Veterans Health.

Cory Fritz, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, challenged Obama’s claim of progress, saying that “one out of every three veterans waiting for care at the VA has already died, and President Obama still doesn’t have a plan to change the culture at the VA”.

The military community has also been on edge over the killing of four Marines and a sailor last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

This announcement comes on the five-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, which aimed to increase consumer protections.

“We need to make the right choice on this critical issue”, he said, adding that differences will remain with Iran and calling for the return of detainees. Republicans have continued to work to repeal major portions of the law, but Jeff Zients, the director of Obama’s National Economic Council, said Obama intends to veto any bills that undermine that law.