PITTSBURGH — President Barack Obama says the people criticizing the Iran nuclear deal are the same people who rushed into war with Iraq.
Obama is speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ national convention in Pittsburgh. He’s likening the deal’s critics to people who “were so quick to go to war” in and and who said that war would only take a few months.
Obama says those critics are “chest beating” and popping off soundbites that don’t help the debate. He says instead of rushing into a military conflict with Iran, the U.S. should only send troops into harm’s way as a last resort.
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 U.S. military strike.