I’m been so focused on Israeli issues that I haven’t written about Iran and
its nuclear aspirations for a while. But now it seems very
necessary.
It has been crystal clear to me that Obama – I won’t say was “had” by Iran
– but rather that he was willingly permitting himself to be had. That he
went along with a deal that on the face of it was not good and didn’t bargain
tough.
But there’s more. An interim deal of some sort was struck with Iran
and now a final deal is supposed to be negotiated. The first problem here
is that the Obama administration refuses to publicly release the details of how
that interim agreement – the Joint Plan of Action - is to be implemented.
What is evolving is a picture in which the president has misrepresented to his
own public what that Plan of Action includes. The implications here
are huge.
See here a White House “fact sheet” released when terms were arrived at in
November (although the interim agreement did not go into effect then):
“President Obama has been clear that achieving
a peaceful resolution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is in
America’s national security interest. Today, the P5+1 [the
permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany] and Iran reached a set
of initial understandings that halts the progress of Iran's nuclear program and
rolls it back in key respects.” (Emphasis added)
~~~~~~~~~~
Then see a CNN interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif, who says the White House “both underplays [Western] concessions and
overplays the Iranian commitment.”
This interview was followed by an interview by
Fareed Zakaria of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, which is the clincher: http://bit.ly/1cZJR0s . Listen to the
entire four minutes and hear what Zakaria has to say. I borrowed the term
“train wreck” – a description of the deal with Iran - from him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Then let’s see what Cliff May, president of the Foundation for the Defense
of Democracies, has to say about the situation, in “World Powers Surrendered to
Iran” (Emphasis added):
“Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last week tweeted a
declaration of diplomatic victory: "In #Geneva agreement world powers
surrendered to Iran's national will." In response, White House press secretary
Jay Carney said not to worry: ‘It doesn't matter what they say. It matters what
they do.’
“OK, so
what are they doing? Abbas Araqchi, Iran's chief negotiator, has provided the
answer. ‘No
facility will be closed; enrichment will continue, and qualitative nuclear
research will be expanded,’ he said. ‘All research into a new generation of
centrifuges will continue.’ Iran also is sending warships into the
Atlantic Ocean for the first time in history -- a not-so-subtle message,
perhaps?
“The Geneva agreement does
slow Iran's timeline for the development of nuclear weapons -- by a month. Yes,
that's right: If Iran's rulers faithfully comply with every commitment
they have so far made, at the end of this six-month period, they will be about
three months -- instead of two months -- away from breakout capacity.
“In exchange, the U.S. and other "world powers"
have given the revolutionary regime, long the world's leading sponsor of
terrorism, additional time -- perhaps as much as a year
-- to continue developing nuclear warheads, triggers and ballistic missiles.
Plus there is sanctions relief sufficient to remove the threat of an impending
Iranian economic crisis. Iran's economy already is recovering.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Oft times I have wondered what it takes to arouse the
sleeping American electorate. When will they understand that they are
being betrayed by the man in the White House?
The information I have provided here should be shared very
broadly.
~~~~~~~~~~
The World Economic Forum is currently meeting in Davos,
Switzerland. Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Rouhani are in attendance.
Netanyahu – who is a lone voice in warning the world about Iran – spoke from
that setting about Rouhani’s on-going charm offensive:
“Rouhani can say something, but it doesn’t make it
real. It sounds nice but it is false. [Rouhani’s conciliatory words]
have no connection to what is going on on the ground.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Since Netanyahu has his eyes wide open with regard to
Iran, and is determined that Iran, in the end, should not go nuclear, I will
close here with this piece from Ilan Berman, Vice President of the American
Foreign Policy Council, in “Israel Keeps It’s Options Open on Iran.”
“Is an Israeli military
attack against Iran truly off the table? Conventional wisdom certainly seems to
think that it is. In the aftermath of the signing of an interim nuclear deal in
Geneva this past November, the foreign policy cognoscenti in Washington, and
elsewhere, have been vocal about the fact that they believe the bell has
effectively tolled on the possibility of Israeli military action.
“The view from Israel,
however, is far less settled. Take a new report in
Israel Defense, a well-regarded strategic intelligence newsletter, which
suggests that planning for a military option against Iran hasn't been tabled,
just postponed pending the outcome of the current negotiating track between Iran
and the P5+1 powers (the U.S., France, Russia, China, Great Britain and
Germany). As the analysis points out, for Israel the operative element of the
diplomatic thaw now underway between the Islamic Republic and the West is
whether it truly results in an end to Tehran's pursuit of the atomic
bomb.
"’For Jerusalem… the
existing political circumstances allow no viable political option for an attack,
but the situation can change within months,’ the Israel Defense report
concludes. ‘If Israel manages to gather intelligence evidence that Iran
continues to “work” on the atomic bomb, the Cabinet may convene dramatic
meetings and order [an] attack in the near summer or fall months.’
“The message is crystal
clear. As far as the Israeli government is concerned, the hard choices
facing the international community about precisely what lengths it will need to
go to in order to prevent the emergence of a nuclear-armed Iran haven't been
resolved. They have only been deferred—and perhaps not for all that
long.” (Emphasis added)
~~~~~~~~~
As Shabbat comes early, I will close here and
return to all other issues after Shabbat.
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner.
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