The Young Americans for Freedom at IU gathered with the Grassroots Conservatives, Indiana Millennials for Cruz and Monroe County Republican Women outside of the IU Auditorium Thursday to protest the Iran deal and the Obama-Kerry Administration.
“The President of the United States pushed through a bad deal, frankly, because he looked at his legacy building sort of segment and, unfortunately, it’s to the detriment of our national interest and that of our allies as well, especially the state of Israel,” Andrew Ireland, IU YAF vice chairman, said.
The deal is not doing the country any favors, Ireland added.
“We saw it as an obligation more than anything to raise that awareness to people,” he said.
YAF focuses on a few core principles, including limited government, individual freedom, and free enterprise and economic opportunity for all.
“We’ve got a long cherished history,” Ireland said. “We’ve done activism on campus now for half a decade and so, you know, we like to go and continue on that tradition.”
Among the group was Robert Hall, leader of the Grassroots Conservatives, who said the group wanted to show that the deal was bad for the country and they were not happy with it.
“We need to educate people on how bad the agreement was,” Hall said.
Jim Pfaff, former radio talk show host, said the manner in which Obama reached the deal was unconstitutional.
The deal also ensures that Iran will have nuclear weapons, and it puts money in the hands of Iran’s terrorist government, to the detriment of the people of Iran, Pfaff said.
“The deal itself is bad,” Pfaff said. “The Kerry and Obama administration destroyed our national reputation. We are no longer as strong as we once were.”
Some students at the protest also had strong feelings about the deal.
“There’s no benefit to lift sanctions on Iran,” said Nicholas Martin, sophomore and member of YAF. “Just because others are, we shouldn’t be. They’re not our ally.”
Mario Lombardi, a member of YAF, said he doesn’t like the side deals being made that citizens do not know about.
“It should be public knowledge,” Lombardi said. “He, or someone else, is trying to keep his secrets, and I don’t like secrets, especially from our elected officials.”
Lombardi said he does not like that between $100 to $150 billion of United States’ money is going to Iran.
“I don’t think that the U.S. should be sending taxpayer money overseas but especially to the world’s state sponsor of terrorism,” Lombardi said. “I think that’s twice the mistake right there.”
