by Daniel Pipes
National Review Online
Originally
published under the title, "Could the Iran Deal Be the Worst International
Accord of All Time?"
Barack Obama has repeatedly signaled during the
past six and a half years that that his No. 1 priority in foreign affairs is
not China, not Russia, not Mexico, but Iran. He wants to bring Iran in from the
cold, to transform the Islamic Republic into just another normal member of the
so-called international community, ending decades of its aggression and
hostility.
In itself, this is a worthy goal; it's always
good policy to reduce the number of enemies. (It brings to mind Nixon going to
China.) The problem lies, of course, in the execution.
The conduct of the Iran nuclear negotiations
has been wretched, with the Obama administration inconsistent, capitulating,
exaggerating, and even deceitful. It forcefully demanded certain terms, then
soon after conceded these same terms.
Secretary of State John Kerry implausibly
announced that we have "absolutely knowledge" of what the Iranians
have done until now in their nuclear program and therefore have no need for
inspections to form a baseline. How can any adult, much less a high official,
make such a statement?
The administration misled Americans about its
own concessions: After the November 2013 Joint Plan of Action, it came out with
a factsheet which Tehran said was inaccurate. Guess who was right? The
Iranians. In brief, the U.S. government has shown itself deeply untrustworthy.
The agreement signed today ends the economic
sanctions regime, permits the Iranians to hide much of their nuclear
activities, lacks enforcement in case of Iranian deceit, and expires in slightly
more than a decade. Two problems particularly stand out: The Iranian path to
nuclear weapons has been eased and legitimated; Tehran will receive a
"signing bonus" of some US$150 billion that greatly increases its abilities to aggress in the
Middle East and beyond.
The United States alone, not to speak of the
P5+1 countries as a whole, have vastly
greater economic and military power than the Islamic Republic of Iran, making
this one-sided concession ultimately a bafflement.
Of the administration's accumulated
foreign-policy mistakes in the last six years, none have been catastrophic for
the United States: Not the Chinese building islands, the Russians taking
Crimea, or the collapse into civil wars of Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. But
the Iran deal has the makings of a catastrophe.
Attention now shifts to the U.S. Congress to
review today's accord, arguably the worst treaty not just in American history
or modern history, but ever. Congress must reject this deal. Republican
senators and representatives have shown themselves firm on this topic; will the
Democrats rise to the occasion and provide the votes for a veto override? They
need to feel the pressure.
