The Iran Nuclear Deal - The 4 Freedoms Library
2024-03-29T10:59:55Z
http://4freedoms.com/forum/topics/the-iran-nuclear-deal?groupUrl=Iran&commentId=3766518%3AComment%3A171419&groupId=3766518%3AGroup%3A773&feed=yes&xn_auth=no
Menendez: Concerned That Iran…
tag:4freedoms.com,2016-01-25:3766518:Comment:174322
2016-01-25T01:41:04.201Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
Menendez: Concerned That Iran Can Get Nuclear Weapons If It’s Patient and Follows JCPOA<br/>
<a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/menendez-iran-nuclear-weapons-patient-follows-jcpoa/" target="_blank">http://freebeacon.com/national-security/menendez-iran-nuclear-weapo...</a>
Menendez: Concerned That Iran Can Get Nuclear Weapons If It’s Patient and Follows JCPOA<br/>
<a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/menendez-iran-nuclear-weapons-patient-follows-jcpoa/" target="_blank">http://freebeacon.com/national-security/menendez-iran-nuclear-weapo...</a>
Congress Moves to Block Payme…
tag:4freedoms.com,2016-01-25:3766518:Comment:174236
2016-01-25T00:07:56.655Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p><strong>Congress Moves to Block Payment to Iran of $1.7 Billion in Taxpayer Funds</strong><br></br><br></br>BY: Adam Kredo January 21, 2016 5:40 pm<br></br><br></br>Congress is considering legislation that would bar the Obama administration from moving forward on a cash payment to Iran of $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds, according to a copy of the legislation provided to the Washington Free Beacon.<br></br><br></br>Obama administration officials confirmed to the Free Beacon earlier Thursday that it is using a…</p>
<p><strong>Congress Moves to Block Payment to Iran of $1.7 Billion in Taxpayer Funds</strong><br/><br/>BY: Adam Kredo January 21, 2016 5:40 pm<br/><br/>Congress is considering legislation that would bar the Obama administration from moving forward on a cash payment to Iran of $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds, according to a copy of the legislation provided to the Washington Free Beacon.<br/><br/>Obama administration officials confirmed to the Free Beacon earlier Thursday that it is using a taxpayer-funded account to pay Iran $1.7 billion as part of a settlement agreement reached with the Islamic Republic ahead of the release of five imprisoned Americans.<br/><br/>Critics of the agreement allege that the administration agreed to the payment to spur Iran to release the five Americans, who were freed over the weekend.<br/><br/>The news has sparked outrage on Capitol Hill and prompted Sen. Jerry Moran (R., Kan.) to file legislation Thursday afternoon that would bar the administration from moving forward on the payment until Iran pays millions in judgments awarded to the U.S. victims of its global terrorist network, according to the bill.<br/><br/>“The United States should not be funding governments that openly violate human rights, proudly disregard U.N. Security Council resolutions, and call for the destruction of America and its allies,” Moran said in a statement. “This bill directs the U.S. government to put justice for American victims of Iranian terrorism ahead of compensation for the Iranian regime.”<br/><br/>“Rather than incentivize state-sponsored kidnapping, the administration should remind the government of Iran that terror and hostage taking are not for-profit enterprises,” Moran said.<br/><br/>The bill would “prohibit the use of funds to make payments to Iran relating to the settlement of claims brought before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.”<br/><br/>The legislation prevents federal funds from being used to make good on this payment, which is likely to spark anger in Tehran.<br/><br/>The money will only be made available once “the President certifies to Congress that the Government of Iran has paid all compensatory damages awarded to a United States person in a final judgment” against Iran for past acts of terrorism committed against U.S. citizens.<br/><br/>The new settlement with Iran was reached independently from the recently implemented nuclear deal and is separate from the $150 billion in unfrozen cash assets the United States is obligated to give to the Islamic Republic under the agreement.<br/><br/>Obama administration officials maintain that the settlement was not tied to the release of Americans, though Iranian officials have said this statement is untrue.<br/><br/>The $1.7 billion settlement is “not related to the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Agreement] or to the release of the U.S. citizens from Iran,” a State Department official who was not authorized to speak on record told the Free Beacon.<br/><br/>“The claim that was settled is part of a much larger case involving Iran’s claims arising out of the former Foreign Military Sales program Iran had with the United States in the 1970s,” the official said.<br/><br/>This is likely the first settlement of many, according to the administration.<br/><br/>“A large number of claims remain to be resolved at the Claims Tribunal, and this settlement regarding the Trust Fund is one in a series of claims settlements we have been discussing over the last two years,” the official said.</p>
<p><a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/congress-block-payment-iran-of-1-7-billion-taxpayer-funds/" target="_blank">http://freebeacon.com/national-security/congress-block-payment-iran...</a></p>
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/wor…
tag:4freedoms.com,2016-01-25:3766518:Comment:174170
2016-01-25T00:06:36.896Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35338901">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35338901</a></p>
<p>he defended a separate settlement at an international legal tribunal which will see the US repay Iran $400m (£280m) in funds frozen since 1981 plus a further $1.3bn in interest - saying there was no point "dragging this out".</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So this is the question. In the Iran hostage taking from Nov. 1979 till Jan 1981, 60 Americans were held for 444…</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35338901">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35338901</a></p>
<p>he defended a separate settlement at an international legal tribunal which will see the US repay Iran $400m (£280m) in funds frozen since 1981 plus a further $1.3bn in interest - saying there was no point "dragging this out".</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So this is the question. In the Iran hostage taking from Nov. 1979 till Jan 1981, 60 Americans were held for 444 days and the embassy was ransacked and destroyed. <br/><a href="http://www.history.com/topics/iran-hostage-crisis">http://www.history.com/topics/iran-hostage-crisis</a></p>
<p>How much compensation did Iran pay the dumb kuffar for that? The U.S. withheld $400m for 35 years. Why didn't it simply requisition the whole amount as compensation? That would also deal with the ridiculous allocation of $1.3B, i.e. 3.5% interest!</p>
<p>Kerry's wonderful deal, which he is so proud of, was simply achieved by giving the Iranians everything they wanted. They must think the US is such a bunch of retards.</p>
<p>Finally, why am I the only person pointing this out? Isn't it the job of the media and political commentators to point out weaknesses and contradictions in US government policy? Does it make sense for a bankrupt nation to hand out nearly $2B to one of its enemies? An enemy furthermore that has never apologised for that act which was a breach of all international law?<br/><span><a href="https://www.quora.com/Has-Iran-ever-apologized-for-the-1979-hostage-crisis" target="_blank">https://www.quora.com/Has-Iran-ever-apologized-for-the-1979-hostage...</a></span></p>
<p>Does that slimeball Kerry not recall that the IEDs in Iraq that successfully killed so many US servicemen were designed to be shaped and piercing by Iran? Do all the disabled servicemen in the US get that? Words fail me.</p>
Now the US is aiding ISIS and…
tag:4freedoms.com,2015-10-07:3766518:Comment:171419
2015-10-07T18:33:23.359Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<blockquote><p><span>Now the US is aiding ISIS and enabling Iran. And it is Russia who are fighting ISIS. </span></p>
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<p>The US spent $0.5B in training anti-ISIS fighters - and only produced 5. Whenever they equip these new forces, including the Iraqis, their equipment just gets transferred to the other side.</p>
<p>Recently Russia announced that it had destroyed around 200 ISIS vehicles, including tanks and so on. Why bother? The US will just re-equip them, by accident or by…</p>
<blockquote><p><span>Now the US is aiding ISIS and enabling Iran. And it is Russia who are fighting ISIS. </span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The US spent $0.5B in training anti-ISIS fighters - and only produced 5. Whenever they equip these new forces, including the Iraqis, their equipment just gets transferred to the other side.</p>
<p>Recently Russia announced that it had destroyed around 200 ISIS vehicles, including tanks and so on. Why bother? The US will just re-equip them, by accident or by design.</p>
Imagine how much things have…
tag:4freedoms.com,2015-10-07:3766518:Comment:171412
2015-10-07T16:30:25.679Z
Joe
http://4freedoms.com/profile/38DD
<p>Imagine how much things have changed since 1979, when muslims took over the US embassy in Tehran, Tripoli and Islamabad. Reagan came to power, and the USSR imploded (1990).</p>
<p>Within the following decade muslims attempted to blow up WTC from the basement. Then they demanded the US Supreme Court raze the image of Mohammed on their statuary (and the Supreme Court effectively submitted). Then in 2001, the WTC was brought to the ground.</p>
<p>Now the US is aiding ISIS and enabling Iran.…</p>
<p>Imagine how much things have changed since 1979, when muslims took over the US embassy in Tehran, Tripoli and Islamabad. Reagan came to power, and the USSR imploded (1990).</p>
<p>Within the following decade muslims attempted to blow up WTC from the basement. Then they demanded the US Supreme Court raze the image of Mohammed on their statuary (and the Supreme Court effectively submitted). Then in 2001, the WTC was brought to the ground.</p>
<p>Now the US is aiding ISIS and enabling Iran. And it is Russia who are fighting ISIS. </p>
<p>These are massive transformations. Yet our media act like nothing of any significance has really happened. More regular attention is paid to Stephen Lawrence than to the collapse of WTC.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>House of Bribes: How the United States led the way to a Nuclear Iran</strong></p>
<p><em><strong>“I think that the American companies will be welcomed in Iran… This is not a game for junior companies, and I call juniors anything below a billion-dollar market cap. This is a big-money game.”</strong></em></p>
<br />
<p><em><strong>— An American Portfolio Manager, July 2015</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>Executive Summary</strong></p>
<p>The Iranian nuclear deal is a full capitulation to Iran’s terrorist mastermind Mullahs, and the latest in a series of betrayals of the American people and allies by the Obama administration. At the highest level of the administration, Barack Obama’s Senior Advisor, the Iranian-born Valerie Jarrett, prioritized rapprochement with the terror state. Throughout the process and negotiations, she had the backing of billionaire investor (and Obama-backer) George Soros, and his multi-headed network of tax-exempt foundations. Their efforts were driven by deep-rooted anti-Semitism and personal greed. Meanwhile, since the mid-1990s, a small but very connected Iranian lobby (funded, in part, by George Soros) has been laying the groundwork for normalizing relations with Tehran. Operating through a variety of non-governmental organizations and political action committees, the lobby courted Democrat and Republican politicians. With the election of (Soros-backed) Obama in 2008, the Iranian lobby had very receptive ears in the White House. International business interests were courted and effectively bribed with access to Iranian markets, until finally the deal was realized, approved, and sealed by a vote of the United Nations Security Council.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://gatesofvienna.net/2015/10/house-of-bribes-how-the-united-states-led-the-way-to-a-nuclear-iran/" target="_blank">http://gatesofvienna.net/2015/10/house-of-bribes-how-the-united-states-led-the-way-to-a-nuclear-iran/</a></p>
<p></p>
'No big deal': Senior Iranian…
tag:4freedoms.com,2015-10-07:3766518:Comment:171141
2015-10-07T16:19:55.126Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<h1 class="article__heading">'No big deal': Senior Iranian commander says Tehran ready for war with US</h1>
<div class="article__date">Published time: 8 May, 2015 10:26Edited time: 10 May, 2015 15:14</div>
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<div class="article__cover"><div class="media"><img alt="Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl)" class="media__item" src="https://img.rt.com/files/news/3e/b0/50/00/423546576879.jpg"></img></div>
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<h1 class="article__heading">'No big deal': Senior Iranian commander says Tehran ready for war with US</h1>
<div class="article__date">Published time: 8 May, 2015 10:26Edited time: 10 May, 2015 15:14</div>
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<div class="article__cover"><div class="media"><img class="media__item" src="https://img.rt.com/files/news/3e/b0/50/00/423546576879.jpg" alt="Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl)"/></div>
<div class="media__footer media__footer_bottom"><div class="media__title media__title_arcticle">Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl) / Reuters</div>
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<div class="article__summary summary">A top commander warned that Iran is ready for an all-out war with US, alleging that aggression against Tehran “will mobilize the Muslim world" against it. The remarks follow Secretary of State John Kerry’s claims that military force was still an option.</div>
<div class="article__text text"><div class="article__tags-trends"><div class="tags-trends"><span class="tags-trends__heading tags-trends__heading_margin-top">Tags</span><a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/arms/">Arms</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/military/">Military</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/nuclear/">Nuclear</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/middle-east/">Middle East</a>,<a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/politics/">Politics</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/law/">Law</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/iran/">Iran</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/usa/">USA</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/israel/">Israel</a>, <a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/war/">War</a>,<a class="tags-trends__link" rel="tag" href="https://www.rt.com/tags/sanctions/">Sanctions</a></div>
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<p>Brigadier General Hossein Salami, lieutenant commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), spoke Wednesday to a state-run TV channel as Western powers readied for a new round of talks on getting the Islamic Republic to curb its nuclear ambitions ahead of a June 30 deadline.</p>
<p>He also stated, <em>"War against Iran will mobilize the Muslim world against the US, an issue which is very well known by the enemy."</em></p>
<p>Iran recently agreed on a framework deal concerning its nuclear interests with the P5+1 group in Switzerland, which would pave the way for it to be finalized. However, Israel was highly critical of the move. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that it <em>“would not block Iran’s path to the bomb. It would pave it.”</em></p>
<p><img src="https://www.rt.com/files/news/3e/b0/50/00/i2.jpg" alt="US Secretary of State John Kerry (L), meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York April 27, 2015. (Reuters/Jason DeCrow)"/></p>
<p>Kerry has recently appeared to try to ease tensions with the Jewish state by assuring it that war was still on the table. This and possible other similar remarks don’t sit well with Salami.</p>
<p><em>"We have prepared ourselves for the most dangerous scenarios and this is no big deal and is simple to digest for us; we welcome war with the US as we do believe that it will be the scene for our success to display the real potentials of our power,"</em> Salami said, <a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940217000440" target="_blank">as cited</a> by Iran’s FARS news agency.</p>
<p>The general’s rationale is that past US military victories owe themselves to their enemies’<em>“rotten”</em> armies – not the case with Iran, he warned.</p>
<p>Addressing the officials currently at the negotiating table, Salami urged them to halt negotiations if any threat of force is issued again by a US official.</p>
<p>Salami echoed the words of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, who in a separate speech remarked that making simultaneous military threats while at the negotiating table will not fly.</p>
<p><a href="http://rt.com/usa/248301-iran-cotton-nuclear-tehran" target="_blank"><strong>READ MORE: Destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities would take ‘several days’ – US Senator Tom Cotton</strong></a><strong><br/><a href="http://rt.com/usa/248301-iran-cotton-nuclear-tehran/" target="_blank"></a></strong></p>
<p><em>"This is not acceptable that the opposite side continues making threats simultaneous with the talks,"</em> he said at a public meeting with teachers in Tehran on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Supreme Leader also referenced remarks from two US officials whom he did not name, but whom also said action wasn’t completely off the table, saying that: <em>"Negotiation under the ghost of a threat is meaningless and the Iranian nation does not tolerate negotiation under the shadow of threat."</em></p>
<p>As for any tangible possibility, Khamenei claimed: <em>“First of all, you can't do a damn thing.”</em></p>
<p><em>"Secondly, as I had already stated during the term of the former US president, the era of hit-and-run attacks is gone and the Iranian nation will not let go of anyone”</em> with aggressive plans on it.</p>
<p>According to the religious leader, this is for the simple reason that the US needs the negotiations as much as Iran does, as it wishes to be seen as the country that put Iran in its place at the negotiating table.</p>
<p>But he added that while it would be best that the crippling economic sanctions by Western powers were lifted, it is <em>“our own planning, will and ability, no matter the sanctions are in place or not,"</em> that is crucial here.</p>
<p>He sent a message to the Iranian negotiators, asking that they <em>“never allow the other side to impose its will, exercise force, humiliate or threaten you.”</em></p>
<p><img src="https://www.rt.com/files/news/3e/b0/50/00/i3.jpg" alt="Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl)"/></p>
<p>Kerry is not alone in appearing to keep the threat of force alive. Last month Republican Senator Tom Cotton (Arkansas) claimed that it would take Washington just several days to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.</p>
<p>Cotton was the author of <a href="http://rt.com/usa/240621-obama-embarrassed-gop-letter/" target="_blank">the letter</a> signed by 47 Republican senators and sent to the Iranian leaders, saying that a nuclear agreement made without congressional approval might not last beyond the Obama administration.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the US Senate passed a bipartisan bill that would give Congress review rights over the White House’s Iran nuclear deal.</p>
<p><iframe width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/204529807&color=00cc11&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false"></iframe>
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<p>A faction led by Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio (R-FL) attempted to insert a number of amendments into the bill during the floor debate, including a provision requiring Iran to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.</p>
<p>It echoes the demand of PM Benjamin Netanyahu who wants any final deal with Iran to include a <em>"clear and unambiguous Iranian recognition of Israel's right to exist."</em></p>
<p><span><a href="http://rt.com/usa/256673-senate-irannuke-deal" target="_blank"><strong>READ MORE: Senate passes bill giving Congress right to review Iran nuke deal</strong></a></span></p>
<p>Meanwhile, on Monday the Iranian foreign minister addressed Israel on behalf of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement, calling that it gives up the bomb, as well as renewing calls for a nuclear-free Middle East.</p>
<p>Israel has not signed up to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), though it has sent an observer to the month long conference for the first time in 20 years.</p>
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Iran Deal: Khamenei Says Isra…
tag:4freedoms.com,2015-09-13:3766518:Comment:170544
2015-09-13T12:22:28.148Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p><strong>Iran Deal: Khamenei Says Israel Destroyed in 25 Years:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/09/09/iran-deal-khamenei-says-israel-destroyed-in-25-years/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/09/09/iran-deal-kha...</a></p>
<p><strong>Iran Deal: Khamenei Says Israel Destroyed in 25 Years:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/09/09/iran-deal-khamenei-says-israel-destroyed-in-25-years/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/09/09/iran-deal-kha...</a></p>
Israeli Preemptive Action, We…
tag:4freedoms.com,2015-08-12:3766518:Comment:169798
2015-08-12T22:01:39.246Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p><strong>Israeli Preemptive Action, Western Reaction</strong></p>
<p>Israel Can’t Count on the West to Protect it. Will Israel do the unthinkable to stop the unimaginable?</p>
<h1 class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: 13px;">by Victor Davis Hanson // </span><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421969/israeli-preemptive-action-western-reaction?target=author&tid=900280" style="font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">National Review Online…</a></h1>
<div class="entry-content"></div>
<p><strong>Israeli Preemptive Action, Western Reaction</strong></p>
<p>Israel Can’t Count on the West to Protect it. Will Israel do the unthinkable to stop the unimaginable?</p>
<h1 class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: 13px;">by Victor Davis Hanson // </span><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421969/israeli-preemptive-action-western-reaction?target=author&tid=900280" target="_blank" style="font-size: 13px;">National Review Online</a></h1>
<div class="entry-content"><div class="pf-content"><p><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=8587" target="_blank">http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=8587</a></p>
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Charles Hill and General Jame…
tag:4freedoms.com,2015-07-30:3766518:Comment:169773
2015-07-30T16:58:29.832Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<p>Charles Hill and General James Mattis on the Iran Deal, Democracy, and Freedom<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g5QeGKIMgUY?rel=0&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0"></iframe>
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<p>Charles Hill and General James Mattis on the Iran Deal, Democracy, and Freedom<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g5QeGKIMgUY?rel=0&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0"></iframe>
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Appeasing Iran Ignores the Le…
tag:4freedoms.com,2015-07-23:3766518:Comment:169646
2015-07-23T14:35:42.823Z
Alan Lake
http://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<h1 class="entry-title">Appeasing Iran Ignores the Lessons of History</h1>
<div class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-date" title="July 23, 2015 1:28 am"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=8562" rel="bookmark" title="Appeasing Iran Ignores the Lessons of History">July 23, 2015 1:28 am</a></span><span class="entry-meta-sep"> / </span><span class="comments-link"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=8562#comments">Leave a Comment…</a></span></div>
<h1 class="entry-title">Appeasing Iran Ignores the Lessons of History</h1>
<div class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-date" title="July 23, 2015 1:28 am"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=8562" title="Appeasing Iran Ignores the Lessons of History" rel="bookmark">July 23, 2015 1:28 am</a></span><span class="entry-meta-sep"> / </span><span class="comments-link"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?p=8562#comments">Leave a Comment</a></span><span class="entry-meta-sep"> / </span><span class="entry-author author vcard"><a href="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/?author=1" title="by victorhanson" rel="author">victorhanson</a></span></div>
<div class="entry-content"><div class="pf-content"><div class="article_title">by Victor Davis Hanson // <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421484/iran-deal-appeasement-nuclear?target=author&tid=900280" target="_blank">National Review Online</a></div>
<div class="article_title"></div>
<div class="article_title"><div id="attachment_8563" class="wp-caption alignright"><img class="size-medium wp-image-8563" src="http://victorhanson.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/iran-munich-500x375.jpg" alt="Photo via conservativebyte.com" width="500" height="375"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Photo via conservativebyte.com</p>
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<p><span class="drop">T</span>he now-concluded Iran nuclear negotiations predictably reflect ancient truths of appeasement.</p>
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<div class="print_text"><p>While members of the Obama administration are high-fiving each other over a deal with the Iranian theocracy, they should remember unchanging laws that will surely haunt the United States later on.</p>
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<p>First, appeasement always brings short-term jubilation at the expense of long-term security. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was a beloved peacemaker after the Munich Agreement of 1938 with Adolf Hitler but derided as a conceited fool andnaif by May 1940.A few years from now – after Iran has used its negotiated breathing space to rearm, ratchet up its terrorist operations, and eventually gain a bomb to blackmail its neighbors – the current deal will be deeply regretted. Expect a Nobel Peace Prize for Secretary of State John Kerry now, followed by Chamberlain-like infamy later.</p>
<p>Second, the appeasement of autocrats always pulls the rug out from under domestic reformers and idealists. After the Western capitulation at Munich, no dissenter in Germany dared to question the ascendant dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Expect a Nobel Peace Prize for Secretary of State John Kerry now, followed by Chamberlain-like infamy later.</p>
<p>Until last week, Iranian dissidents and reformers had blamed the theocracy for earning Iran pariah status abroad and economic ruin at home. Not now. The haughty ayatollahs are bragging that they faced down the West and will restore the economy – as they wink to applauding crowds that Iran will soon be nuclear and dictate its terms to the Middle East.</p>
<p>Third, appeasers always wrongly insist that the only alternative to their foolish concessions is war. Just the opposite is true.</p>
<p>Time was not on Iran’s side. Teheran was growing desperate for financial and commercial relief from global sanctions and embargoes. In contrast, the world had no such urgency and could have easily waited for a cash-strapped and ostracized Iran to give up on a bomb.</p>
<p>There were plenty of alternatives short of war in dealing with Hitler from 1936 to 1939, but none after. Expect that in five years Iran will be better armed, richer, more confident, more aggressive – and nearly impossible to deter without the use of force.</p>
<p>Fourth, beneficiaries grow to hate their appeasers. Such ingratitude might seem counterintuitive, given the gifts that the Iranians have just received from the Obama administration. But we should remember that Hitler called his Munich appeasers “worms” and pushed them even further.</p>
<p>Under the rules of appeasement, an aggressor privately has only disdain for compromises that benefit him, and yet feels a weird sort of respect for those who deter him. Expect an emboldened Iran to double down on its anti-Americanism, as it brags about how a weak and decadent Great Satan meekly caved to its demands, which will only grow greater.</p>
<p>Fifth, allies are always the big losers in appeasement. Britain and France ensured the destruction of third-party Czechoslovakia by conceding to Hitler’s demands in 1938 – and doomed Poland in 1939.</p>
<p>Our apprehensive friends and allies in the Middle East – the Gulf states and Egypt especially – will naturally, for their own protection, expect the same sort of nuclear deal that we accorded our enemy, Iran.</p>
<p>America is for a while longer out of Iranian missile range. Not so the Arab world, Israel, and perhaps southern and eastern Europe. Won’t our Pacific allies also wish to keep their strategic deterrent options open by following the Iranian enrichment model?</p>
<p>Concessions to enemies naturally prompt allies into wondering why they do not receive similar latitude – even on issues quite unconnected with military affairs. Were Western diplomats harsher on friendly Greece than they were to hostile and would-be nuclear Iran?</p>
<p>The cost of giving into Greece is hundreds of millions of euros; giving into Iran will involve blood rather than money. Perhaps if Greece just had a few thousand spinning centrifuges, it might have been bailed out more quickly by terrified Westerners.</p>
<p>After the Iranian agreement, expect a world of nervous and angry allies, the end of dissent inside Iran, the spread of Iranian-sponsored terrorism, more nuclear states, a growing contempt for alliances with the West, and a new Middle East that may have to adopt appeasement to deal with a haughty Iran, flush with new cash and arms.</p>
<p>Finally, outside observers of appeasement always make the necessary geostrategic adjustments.</p>
<p>Joseph Stalin weighed carefully the democracies’ appeasement of Hitler’s serial aggressions in the Rhineland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. By 1939, the Soviet Union had fatally decided that it was as dangerous to have unreliable France and Britain as allies as it was having Germany as an enemy. So Stalin cut what proved to be a disastrous deal with Hitler that ensured World War II.</p>
<p>China and Russia will never again see any advantage in joining the West in embargoing and sanctioning a would-be nuclear state – not when such a hard-won common front can become utterly nullified at any moment by a fickle United States. Both powers will grow closer to Iran.</p>
<p>In 2015, we naively hail peace with honor, but by 2020, sadder and wiser, we will lament war and shame.</p>
<p><span class="section-gray"><em> © 2015 Tribune Media Services, Inc.</em></span></p>
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