Would You Buy A Used Car From These People?

The Wall Street Journal printed an editorial today about the ongoing relationship between President Obama and Iran. President Obama has two things he wants to leave as a legacy–one is ObamaCare and the other is a nuclear deal with Iran that lasts at least until he is out of office. ObamaCare will collapse under its own weight within three years, so that leaves the deal with Iran. In the negotiations with Iran, America has pretty much negotiated with itself–making concession after concession until Iran had no choice but accept the deal. So where are we now?

The editorial reports:

The U.S. and United Nations both say Iran is already violating U.N. resolutions that bar Iran from testing ballistic missiles. Iran has conducted two ballistic-missile tests since the nuclear deal was signed in July, most recently in November. The missiles seem capable of delivering nuclear weapons with relatively small design changes.

The White House initially downplayed the missile tests, but this week it did an odd flip-flop on whether to impose new sanctions in response. On Wednesday it informed Congress that it would target a handful of Iranian companies and individuals responsible for the ballistic-missile program. Then it later said it would delay announcing the sanctions, which are barely a diplomatic rebuke in any case, much less a serious response to an arms-control violation.

So how did Iran respond? Last week Iran fired several rockets that landed within 1500 yards of the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman. This incident occurred in the Strait of Hormuz. In October, the Iranians arrested Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman. He is being held without charges. The Iranians have held Washington Post reporter Jason-Rezaian for more than 500 days.

The editorial further reports:

The sages now blaming hard-liners for Iran’s nastiness are the same folks who told us that the nuclear accord would empower the “moderates” in Iran by showing America’s peaceful intentions. When will this crowd figure out that Iran’s rulers don’t want better relations with the U.S.? They want to become the dominant power in the Middle East while driving the U.S. out of the region.

Make no mistake–the religious leaders of Iran want a world-wide caliphate with Iran in charge. They need to get America and Israel out of the way in order to do this. The Islamic concept of ‘taqiyya’ is loosely defined as deceit or dissimulation toward infidels. The Iranians have used it masterfully in dealing with President Obama.

The editorial reminds us:

Under the nuclear accord, Iran will soon receive $100 billion in unfrozen assets as well as the ability to court investors who are already streaming to Tehran. Sanctioning a few names is feckless by comparison, and Iran is denouncing even this meager action as a U.S. violation of the nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani responded to the sanctions reports on Thursday by ordering his defense minister to accelerate Iran’s missile program. Your move, Mr. Obama.

Do we really want to do this?