Boeing and Congress are having a little spat.
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives says Boeing shouldn’t be allowed to sell and lease more than 100 airliners in a deal worth $25 billion. Boeing and President Barack “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” Obama say the deal should go through, since Iran has been following the terms of last year’s deal that shut down its nuclear program.
Let’s look at the arguments on both sides.
Congress: Iran is an oppressive regime and a persistent threat to U.S. allies. Since 1979, it has kidnapped Americans, directed terror attacks and given safe harbor to al-Qaida terrorists.
Boeing: That’s 25 BILLION dollars, with a B.
Congress: Iran Air is a key lifeline for Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad, ferrying troops and weapons that have been used in the horrific, ongoing violence against civilians.
Boeing: Did we mention the $25 billion?
Congress: Iran is under economic sanctions for a reason. It’s developed ballistic missiles capable of hitting Israel and Europe, threatened to shut down international waterways and tolerated hackers who launched cyberattacks on the U.S.
Boeing: That’s a dollar sign followed by a two, a five and NINE zeroes.
Congress: Boeing is never going to see that money. Iran is broke after years of sanctions, and the words “state sponsor of terrorism” really hurt its credit score.
Boeing: Iran badly needs new airplanes, and the sale is crucial to the nuclear deal. We’ll be in more danger in the long run if Iran restarts its nuclear program, and killing the sale would cost thousands of potential jobs, many of them in Washington. Also, $25 billion.
In our latest poll at HeraldNet.com, we asked who’s right. Our voters took Boeing over Congress, 56 percent to 44 percent. While President-elect Donald Trump seems fond of unscientific internet polls, he still could kill the Iran deal.
Money usually talks, but in this case Boeing might get shouted down.
Doug Parry, parryracer@gmail.com; @parryracer.
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