"You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." A deal has been struck and the world has changed, forever. Had I written that sentence a month ago, or even a week, it would have been condemned as cheap hyperbole. Today is different, as tomorrow will be different yet again, as details of the Iran agreement are revealed by the hour. These negotiations began with the U.S. Congress suggesting a tightening of sanctions in order to apply pressure on the mullahs of Iran, but President Barack Obama decided to do the opposite, loosening sanctions and thus injecting billions of dollars into an Iranian economy that has been climbing out of the red ever since the nuclear talk started. From that moment on, every step taken has been a concession. What were supposed to be inspections "anywhere and anytime" has turned into a 24-day notice before negotiating a possible inspection with Iran, making any insight into Iran's affairs basically impossible. The president and his administration then went on to explain and defend this 180-degree turn by saying that America would never allow any foreign power to just walk into its nuclear or military facilities, so why should we demand it of Iran, thereby placing the U.S. and Iran on the same level of credibility in one fell swoop. Other concessions include complete sanctions relief, including all non-nuclear sanctions such as those tied to terrorism and human rights, releasing close to $150 billion and legitimizing a whole host of actors previously condemned by the civilized world. By dropping the demands to establish a baseline, i.e., get exact numbers on Iran's present nuclear capability and past nuclear activity, the United States and its allies have completely forfeited any chance of keeping tabs on Iran's advances and transgressions. The deal we see in place today guarantees that Iran will become a nuclear state within 10 years, at the most, and that is under the very bold assumption that Iran follows the rules of the nuclear agreement. Obama claimed during his speech on Tuesday morning that any violations would make sanctions "snap back," but that is far from the truth. In order to renege on any part of this deal, an agreement would have to be reached with all of the negotiating partners, something Russia most certainly would stop from happening. This deal does not require Iran to dismantle any of its nuclear sites (some of them will be converted through a lengthy and complicated process according to the deal) nor does it in any way limit Iran's extensive terrorist funding and training activity around the world. So what we ended up with was Iran getting everything it demanded and more, and the world getting nothing but peril in return. Whatever might be said over the next week, I believe Obama did not mistakenly alter the course of the world, but he set out to do exactly what has been entered into that 159-page document. After several victories on the national stage, he wanted a foreign policy legacy, and he wanted that legacy to be an end not only to American exceptionalism but to the current equilibrium in the Middle East. Well, much like Iran, he got everything on his wish list, and more. Just a few days ago, mid-negotiations, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani attended a rally in Tehran where American and Israeli flags were burned while the crowd chanted, "Death to America! Death to Israel!" There is nothing new about this sort of hateful incitement coming out of Iran, nor will it lessen now that all possible incentives for change have been removed. Iran has, much like North Korea after the 1994 Clinton agreement, been put on a direct path to the bomb, and unless Congress overrides a presidential veto, we are stuck with a world where Iran polices the Middle East and America takes a back seat to terrorists. Just a few hours ago, Syrian President Assad took to Twitter to congratulate Iran on what he called a "tremendous victory," and he is not wrong. Iran won, and Obama seems to have achieved his goal of turning Iran into a "successful regional power." Just yesterday, Iran was a part of the axis of evil, today it was handed a historic diplomatic victory in the form of a big blank check. From this day forward, Iran will, with the help of a bomb, rule the Middle East and thereby hold the entire world hostage. May God help us all. Annika Hernroth-Rothstein is a political adviser, activist and writer on the Middle East, religious affairs and global anti-Semitism.
-- Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain in 1938.
Deal of dishonor
מערכת ישראל היום
מערכת "ישראל היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
