A few of our stories and columns are now in front of the paywall. We at The Chief remain committed to independent reporting on labor and civil service. It's been our mission since 1897. You can have a hand in ensuring that our reporting remains relevant in the decades to come. Consider supporting The Chief, which you can do for as little as $3.20 a month.
To the editor:
On June 17, Donald Trump announced he was ending his 110-day military blunder in Iran. The costs in life and treasure have been staggering: $2.2 trillion lost in world gross product, 10,000 dead, 50,000 wounded and hundreds of billions in regional property damage. Americans took a direct, out-of-pocket hit of $135 billion, with 15 dead, 543 injured, 63 lost aircraft and munition supplies seriously depleted.
However, the greatest loss may have been to American prestige. The U.S. didn’t merely lose the war, we were humiliated and our allies - and adversaries - took note. We were also forced to make horrific concessions in a memorandum of agreement with Iran, giving the initials “U.S.” new meaning - Unconditional Surrender.
As required in the MOU, the U.S. naval blockade and sanctions on Iranian oil and petroleum product sales were lifted, Iran is allowed to retain its missile program, ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will be subject to Iranian and Omani tolls in 60 days, $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets were released with another $12 billion to follow over the next two months AND the U.S. and Gulf States will fund a $300 billion reconstruction and economic development program for Iran.
Peace also hinges on Israel ending hostilities in Lebanon. Without exaggeration, the MOU is the most detrimental, lopsided agreement the U.S. has ever entered into.
What did we get? The same no nuke promise Iran made in the 2015 JCPOA, which Trump rejected 8 years ago, and a re-opened, toll-free Strait for 60 days. Trump owes every American, particularly our service members who took part in Operation Epic Fury, an apology. This wasn’t “The Art of The Deal," it was “The Act of a Dope."
Joseph Cannisi
8 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Valete
The letter writer’s despicable letter is another failed attempt at propaganda by an individual consumed by blind hatred. This hatred seeks to diminish the genius and accomplishments of President Donald J. Trump, the greatest American President since George Washington. His exceptional intellect and achievements are the primary reason why hateful Democrats, as evident in this essay, vehemently attack his numerous national and domestic policy successes.
Thursday, June 25 Report this
TeriDeCastro
Good for you, Word Man.. Cannisi is now a military and contract expert...
This newspaper became a "commie" rag although some of the "news" articles regarding city agencies are informative.
Most of the letters and op-eds here are a reflection of the residents and the voters opinions and beliefs.
And you wonder why NYC, and NYS for that matter, are going down..
My guess would be is you don't think you hit rock bottom yet, you're uniformed or you don't care.
You get what you pay (vote) for and apparently the disastrous and descending conditions in this town are what you want.
Good Luck, People !!
Thursday, June 25 Report this
reenjoe
Page 3 of the 159-page 2015 JCPOA:
Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or
acquire any nuclear weapons.
Page 2 of the 2-page 2026 Iran-US MoU:
Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.
PLUS, Trump agreed to develop a $300 billion fund to reconstruct and develop Iran. Pure genius and quite the accomplishment!
Friday, June 26 Report this
krell1349
Trump is not a genius, he is a liar. What has he accomplished with the war? Nothing. Back to square one or worse. He knows nothing of international diplomacy. Greatest American President? I think not, his two terms will go down as the worst 2 in history.
Friday, June 26 Report this
Admin
As I have said before, Trump supporters will say anything in his defense regardless of how removed from reality and sanity their arguments are.
Friday, June 26 Report this
reenjoe
Before Steve Witkoff took him to the wood shed, Lindsey Graham called the $300 billion clause of Trump's MoU the equivalent of "rebuilding Nazi Germany while the regime was still in power".
For all those who think NY is "rock bottom" please move to a red state where the violent crime, illiteracy, divorce, child pregnancy and poverty rates lead the nation and workers are paid the least and have the worst benefits.
Good luck with that!
Friday, June 26 Report this
reenjoe
I forgot to add, as someone who prepared multimillion dollar contracts for NYC for over 20 years I know a bad one when I see it.
For example, hiring a company that installs pickup truck bed liners to coat the Lincoln reflecting pool is a big no-no. In contract terms, Rhino would have been disqualified as " not responsible" to perform the work. I also know that only dumb ass would let the contractor off the hook for installation failure by claiming it was vandalism. Trump could and should have sued Rhino for the full $15 million price tag. He's a moron.
Friday, June 26 Report this
Valete
I appreciate your thoughtful response to my post, Teri De Castro. Your insights are greatly valued.
Saturday, June 27 Report this