Democrats bizarrely love Iran and think a new nuclear deal and a box of candy will turn them into a responsible regional power. And the Biden administration will twist reality again to get that deal restored.
What is with the Democrats and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)?
The deal was built on the premise that Iran would accept a détente with the United States — or at the very least, was prepared to moderate its violent, destabilizing behavior, in exchange for economic (and nuclear) incentives. It took almost no time for Iran to prove that this premise was not just false but fantastical.
The years immediately following the conclusion of the JCPOA were marked by a surge in Iran’s aggression across the Middle East, a more than 30 percent jump in Iran’s “defense” budget and increased funding for terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Calls for “death to America” echoed in state-dominated mosques across the Islamic Republic.
Even as a narrow nuclear arms control agreement, the deal’s terms were always too weak, too limited, and too temporary to be effective at anything other than kicking the can down the road a bit. The deal is so bad that from the start, its proponents have relied on misdirection, overstatement and even outright lies to make their case.
Iran’s proven ability to violate the deal’s terms rapidly, once it chose to do so, exposed their insufficiency. It is undeniable that the regime deceived, stonewalled and harassed inspectors, despite promises of “unprecedented inspections.” A “one-year break-out time” was calculated using dubious accounting of Iran’s illegally-built uranium enrichment centrifuges. And the agreement’s restrictions on the nuclear program proved to be easily and quickly reversible, debunking the assertions that the JCPOA blocked all of Iran’s paths to a nuclear weapon.
President Barack Obama has spoken of his ambition to bring Iran in from the cold, saying the long-time US foe could be “a very successful regional power” if it agrees to a deal over its nuclear programme. ...
“There's incredible talent and resources and sophistication inside of Iran, and it would be a very successful regional power that was also abiding by international norms and international rules, and that would be good for everybody,” Mr Obama said.
And yes, the worst secretary of state in living memory is a 100% moron.
But I digress. Sort of.
The Obama administration lied to America about the 2015 deal--and undermined an actual debate on the merits--with the enthusiastic cooperation with a worshipful think tank industry and media.
Indeed, the basis of the deal was the acceptance of Iran's lie that it never had a nuclear weapons program. The Israelis even grabbed evidence from inside Iran showing Iran never gave up its drive for nuclear weapons. But none of that matters.
All along I said the basis of a deal was simple. Iran would pretend not to have a nuclear weapons program; and we would pretend to believe them. Everyone in the Biden administration is willing to pretend and lie again. We'll see if Iran even cares any longer. The deal bought them time and it would be starting to expire soon anyway even if America didn't walk away from the deal under the last administration.
"We are ready for war, tell Zion," one unnamed speaker was quoted as saying during the May 20 military parade organized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the country's paramilitary fighting force that has murdered scores of Americans. "No trace will be left of the demon. … Not a single house will be left standing in Tel Aviv."
"We will raze Haifa and Tel Aviv to the ground," said another speaker, according to a translation of the Farsi-language remarks conducted by the Middle East Media Research Institute, which tracks the hardline regime's state-controlled media.
Why Democrats have a huge mullah crush is beyond me. When the mullahs screech "Death to America!" they mean all Americans--not just some.
But hey, we're not a "one-bomb" state like Israel is. So we've got that going for us. Which is nice.
I assume Israel is continuously updating strike plans for knocking down Iran's nuclear weapons infrastructure.
Have a super sparkly day.
UPDATE: No! Way!
Iran has significantly intensified its efforts to obtain technology for its illegal nuclear program, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said in a report released on Tuesday.
Iran denied it had a nuclear weapons program as a basis of the awful 2015 nuclear deal.
UPDATE: The most subtle way for Iran to evade oversight is to conduct key work away from where the cameras point. When Iran wants to be obvious this is what is done:
The U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Thursday that Iran has begun removing 27 cameras monitoring its nuclear activity, a move that could prevent international inspectors from gaining a clear picture of Tehran’s uranium enrichment work.
NOTE: War coverage continues on this post.
