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| Secretary of State John F. Kerry at the Iran nuclear talks on Thursday |
The devil is not in the details. It’s in the entire
conception of the Iran deal, animated by President Obama’s fantastical belief
that he, uniquely, could achieve detente with a fanatical Islamist regime whose
foundational purpose is to cleanse the Middle East of the poisonous corruption
of American power and influence.
In pursuit of his desire to
make the Islamic Republic into an accepted, normalized “successful regional
power,” Obama decided to take over the nuclear negotiations. At the time, Tehran was reeling — the rial plunging, inflation skyrocketing,
the economy contracting — under a regime of international sanctions
painstakingly constructed over a decade.
Then, instead of welcoming Congress’ attempt to tighten
sanctions to increase the pressure on the mullahs, Obama began the negotiations
by loosening sanctions,
injecting billions into the Iranian economy (which began growing again in 2014)
and conceding in advance an Iranian right to enrich uranium.
It’s been downhill ever since.
Desperate for a legacy deal, Obama has played the supplicant, abandoning every
red line his administration had declared essential to any acceptable deal.
Inspections. They were to be anywhere, anytime,
unimpeded. Now? Total cave. Unfettered access has become “managed access.”
Nuclear inspectors will have to negotiate and receive Iranian approval for
inspections. Which allows them denial and/or crucial delay for concealing any
clandestine activities.
To give a flavor of the degree
of our capitulation, the administration played Iran’s lawyer on this one, explaining that, after all,
“the United States of America wouldn’t allow anybody to get into every military
site, so that’s not appropriate.” Apart from the absurdity of morally equating
America with the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, if we were going
to parrot the Iranian position, why wait 19 months to do so — after repeatedly
insisting on free access as essential to any inspection regime?
Coming clean on past
nuclear activity. The current interim agreementthat
governed the past 19 months of negotiation required Iran to do exactly that.
Tehran has offered nothing. The administration had insisted that this
accounting was essential because how can you verify future illegal advances in
Iran’s nuclear program if you have no baseline?
After continually demanding access to their scientists, plans and weaponization
facilities, Secretary of State John Kerry two weeks ago airily dismissed the need,
saying he is focused on the future, “not fixated” on the past. And that we have
“absolute knowledge” of the Iranian program anyway — a whopper that his
staffers had to spend days walking back.
Not to worry, we are told. The
accounting will be done after the final deal is signed. Which is ridiculous. If
the Iranians haven’t budged on disclosing previous work under the current
sanctions regime, by what logic will they comply after sanctions are lifted?
Sanctions relief. These were to be gradual and staged as
the International Atomic Energy Agency certified Iranian compliance over time.
Now we’re going to be releasing up to $150 billion as an upfront signing bonus. That’s 25 times the annual budget of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Enough
to fuel a generation of intensified Iranian aggression from Yemen to Lebanon to
Bahrain.
Yet three months ago, Obama expressed nonchalance about immediate sanctions relief. It’s not
the issue, he said. The real issue is “snap-back” sanctions to be reimposed if
Iran is found in violation.
Good grief. Iran won’t be
found in violation. The inspection regime is laughable and the bureaucratic
procedures endless. Moreover, does anyone imagine that Russia and China will
reimpose sanctions? Or that the myriad European businesses preparing to join
the Iranian gold rush the day the deal is signed will simply turn around and go
home?
Nonnuclear-related
sanctions. The
administration insisted that the nuclear talks would not affect separate
sanctions imposed
because of Iranian aggression and terrorism. That was then. The administration
is now leaking that everything will be lifted.
Taken together, the catalog of
capitulations is breathtaking: spot inspections, disclosure of previous nuclear
activity, gradual sanctions relief, retention of nonnuclear sanctions.
What’s left? A surrender document of the kind offered by
defeated nations suing for peace. Consider: The strongest military and economic
power on earth, backed by the five other major powers, armed with what had been
a crushing sanctions regime, is about to sign the worst international agreement
in U.S. diplomatic history.
How did it come to this? With every concession, Obama and
Kerry made clear they were desperate for a deal.
And they will get it. Obama will get his “legacy.” Kerry
will get his Nobel. And Iran will get the bomb.