The executive director of Veterans Against the Deal, the group behind a gripping new ad that urges Congress to reject the Iran nuclear deal, talked with Fox News on Tuesday about Iran’s decades-long war against the U.S.
"This [deal] is giving an enemy going back 35 years more money and arms, and it actually allows a terrorist general to violate existing sanctions by traveling to Iraq to fund a proxy war, going to Yemen to fund a proxy war, and going to Russia to facilitate an arms deal—again in violation of sanctions," Executive Director Michael Pregent, who was an intelligence advisor to Gen. David Petraeus, said. "To us, it's baffling. We want our veterans to be heard on this this."
President Obama and liberal allies supporting the Iran deal contend that much of the $150 billion Iran gains from the deal will be earmarked for debt relief and peaceful domestic projects, although when pressed supporters of the deal admit Iran could use the money to ramp up its warfare against the U.S. and Israel.
"This money will go back to the organizations that were sanctioned to begin with for conducting terrorism operations," Pregent said. "It's not going back to the people."
Iran’s actions have exacted a heavy cost on the U.S. military: More than 500 U.S. soldiers were killed by Iranian bombs during the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and 241 were killed in the Iraninan-backed bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.
"We know this enemy very well. We have veterans going back to the Beirut bombing that will be able to talk about this," Pregent said. "Who better to oppose the deal the actual soldiers, marines, and service members that have to go and fight these wars. Our veterans are not war mongers. Our veterans are trained to prevent war and to win war."