Iraq vets group launches campaign against Iran deal

A group of Iraq War veterans who oppose the Iran nuclear deal launched its campaign this week, seeking to push back against the Obama administration’s argument that the alternative to the deal is war. 

The group, called Veterans Against the Deal, argues that the Iran deal would cause more war, not less, by unfreezing billions in Iranian assets and providing the regime with more money to fund terrorist activities in the Middle East. 

{mosads}Its first ad, launched Monday, features a medically retired soldier who was wounded in 2005 by an Iranian-made bomb while fighting in Iraq. 

“That day is imprinted in my brain forever,” says retired Staff Sgt. Robert Bartlett, who added that the bomb also took his gunner’s legs off. 

“Every politician who’s involved in this will be held accountable. They will have blood on their hands. A vote for this deal means more money for Iranian terrorism,” he continues. 

“Call your senator, tell them no deal with Iran,” he adds. 

The million-dollar campaign is targeting Democratic senators who are undecided on the deal. 

The group’s first ad targets Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee who voted to renew sanctions on Iran earlier this year if a deal was not reached.  

Chairman of the Armed Services Committee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tweeted on Tuesday, “Powerful new ad from #Iraq War veterans against the #IranDeal.” 

Bartlett said in an interview Tuesday evening that he “couldn’t believe” when the deal with Iran was announced. 

“I didn’t want to believe it. The very country that killed so many Americans over in Iraq, I just couldn’t believe it,” Bartlett said on Fox News’s “Kelly File.” 

“They took a few thousand dollars to kill me and my friends. What are they going to do with billions?” he added. 

The group’s executive director is Michael Pregent, a former senior adviser to retired Army Gen. David Petraeus. 

The group’s board includes retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Brian Sanchez, retired Marine Corps Col. Stephen Robb and Iraq war veteran Pete Hegseth, the chairman of the group Concerned Veterans for America, which was financed by the Koch brothers’ donor network, according to Bloomberg. 

Retired Gen. Mike Flynn, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during President Obama’s first term, is an adviser to the group, Bloomberg reported.