The American People Overwhelmingly Oppose Obama’s Iran ‘Deal’; Legislators Rubber-Stamp It At Their Peril

Washington, D.C.:  Today, the Center for Security Policy released the first installment of the results of a national poll conducted in the last two weeks on various topics relevant to U.S. national and homeland security. The attached questions and answers address public awareness of and attitudes towards the nuclear agreement President Obama is trying to conclude with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This opinion research was performed by The Polling Company and established that a majority of Americans (54%) are very or somewhat “familiar with this diplomatic initiative.” Even more impressive is the finding that they overwhelmingly oppose it – by a margin of 75 to 16 percent (with 9% saying they don’t know or cannot judge). Of that supermajority, 60% say they strongly oppose Obama’s deal.

The poll also found that by a better than two-thirds majority, those polled want Congress to be able to reject this deal. This is a particularly important finding because federal legislators did recently agree to give themselves a chance to vote on it. Unfortunately, in so doing, they accepted arrangements as part of the so-called Corker-Cardin bill that will make it exceedingly difficult to defeat whatever the President negotiates.

Finally with regard to Iran, the poll explored how Americans think our government should respond if Israel and other U.S. allies in the Middle East decide they must take military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons program. A majority of 54% said either that the U.S. should “help assure the success of the attack” (36%) or “do nothing” (18%). By contrast, just 31% thought the United States should “act to prevent the attack” (20%) or “warn the Iranians of the attack” (11%).

The poll’s findings reinforce a message conveyed today by two influential Democrats at an event this afternoon on Capitol Hill cosponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Foreign Policy Initiative. Former Senators Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh expressed grave concerns about the contents of the Obama deal with Iran. Particularly noteworthy was Sen. Lieberman’s warning in response to a question from Center for Security Policy Senior Vice President Fred Fleitz that it is not possible to have a meaningful agreement with Iran that allows it to continue to enrich uranium.

Center for Security Policy President, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. observed:

The American people are not stupid. The results of this new poll make clear they understand that allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons is a mortal threat. They also have figured out that the effect of President Obama’s defective deal will be, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out to Congress in March, to pave the way for that threat, not prevent it.

The Center for Security Policy is determined to do whatever it can to work with likeminded individuals and organizations in Washington – and with Americans across the country – to ensure that neither our friends and allies in the Middle East nor our own people and nation face the existential peril from the Iranian mullahs that Mr. Obama is enabling.

Other revealing insights into public sentiment from the Center’s new survey will be released each day this week. For additional information about the Iran deal, visit www.IranTruth.org

CSP SURVEY ON THE IRAN ŒDEAL¹ 6115