'Moderate' ambitions -- for a bomb

Credit must be given to the Iranians for their extraordinary acting skills. After managing to pull the wool over Washington's eyes to be seen as a willing partner in the war on jihadist terror in the Middle East (the cat will guard the cream, indeed), now Iran is threatening that if, heaven forbid, the nuclear deal it wishes for fails to materialize, their "moderate and peace loving" president, Hassan Rouhani, will be politically euthanized.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif apparently thinks we are naive, imbeciles or perhaps both. Otherwise, how would we interpret his comments whereby failed talks would play into the hands of the extremists and Revolutionary Guard-

He appears to believe we are living in a world where the Green Revolution of 2009 succeeded and the ayatollahs were thrown from power. Not only did this not happen, when the West, including Washington, failed to lift a finger; Rouhani, to those with short memories, is part of the religious establishment in Iran that returned with Khomenei in 1979 from France.

But the Iranians continue to play the bit of good cop (Rouhani), bad cop (Khamenei). You try and find the difference.

The problem is we have already seen this movie, Mr. Zarif, in 1997, when the moderate candidate, Mohammad Khatami, beat the then-chairman of Iran's parliament Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri. Even then there was talk of a different Iran. Even then Iran spoke of dialogue between civilizations.

Behind the scenes, the uranium enrichment project gained momentum. The first moderate, Khatami, built the centrifuges; the second "moderate," Rouhani, is going to complete the bomb. In Iran, incidentally, moderation is a relative term.

There is no question the Iranian ruse coincides with the West's desire to strike a deal. It can be presented as an astounding achievement for diplomacy, and now as a buttress for the moderates in Iran. A deal is wanted, at any price.

Khamenei, one can assume, is struggling to believe how easy Washington is making it for him. He will continue making threats and throwing fits, he will carry on operating terrorist networks, and Iran's power and influence in the West will grow -- all in the name of Rouhani's "moderation."

In general, this has been a strange period. Iran can destabilize and even topple regimes, as it did in Yemen, but is currently perceived as a potential source for regional stability.

And that's not all: A mere two days after the poor Jordanian pilot was executed in such a sickening and appalling manner by the Islamic State group, and U.S. President Barack Obama evokes the Crusades and Inquisition.

It's a little confusing: Precisely when we would expect the leader of the free world to wail to the high heavens against Islamic terror (shh… you still can't call it that in the White House), Obama is behaving like Islam's defense attorney, essentially expressing a perilous empathy for radical Islam. Almost as if to say, the Christians had their dark ages and "now it's your turn." As if the world hadn't evolved since then.

Yet people are still surprised that a speech in Congress warning against this emerging bad deal is necessary. Maybe Obama doesn't like it, but many things he says and does are also not always acceptable.

Welcome to the Wild West. The sheriff has gone to take a nap; the bad guys across the globe are having a blast. And similar to the time of the Inquisition and Crusades, this means nothing good -- as usual -- for the Jews.

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