It’s a bad deal and Obama knows it
The president knows that the more the American people learn about the Iran deal, the less popular it will be. This explains his steamrolling Congress by supporting the U.N.’s vote for the deal before Congress has considered it. As Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) — chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee — wrote to Obama:
“The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, a bill which 98 Senators and 400 Representatives supported and you signed, established a 60-day period for Congress to consider the nuclear agreement. We are deeply concerned that your administration plans to enable the United Nations Security Council to vote on the agreement before the United States Congress can do the same. Doing so would be contrary to your statement that ‘it’s important for the American people and Congress to get a full opportunity to review this deal.’”
Well, so much for that.
{mosads}Now, professional diplomats and nuclear experts (those elite demographics impervious to ideology or partisan loyalty) will hit Capitol Hill to lobby Congress to oppose sinking the deal. They will argue the devil is in the details and it is best to leave the assessment to them; but don’t be fooled, the devil is also in the general and blatantly obvious.
Here are just a few of the facts that the Obama administration has admitted to or are simply indisputable on their face.
It is likely Iran will try to cheat, and even now, continues to wreak havoc in the Middle East. “And the specific problem that is being debated right now is not whether we trust the Iranian regime or not — we don’t trust them. It’s not whether Iran engages in destabilizing activities — everybody agrees with that.” President Barack Obama, March 3, 2015.
Hawks and doves alike believe that effective verification requires unfettered access to Iran’s nuclear sites, but the deal does not grant this. “We expect to have anywhere, anytime access.” U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, April 2015. The text of the deal allows for 24 days of notice for some sites that may present a concern. During a press conference last week President Obama dismissed the concerns. “Let’s take the issue of 24 days. This has been, I think, swirling today, the notion that this is insufficient in terms of inspections.” Only according to your own administration officials, Mr. President.
The administration allowed nuclear facilities to remain in operation despite the fact that they are unnecessary for a peaceful nuclear program. “We know they don’t need to have an underground, fortified facility like Fordow in order to have a peaceful program.” President Obama, December 6, 2013. Nonetheless, Fordow and the Arak heavy water reactor and plutonium production plant will be converted, not dismantled.
It allows some sanctions to be lifted, specifically, on no-kidding villains like Qasem Soleimani who is personally responsible for a campaign to hunt and kill American soldiers. His name is listed in the annex of the deal.
The Obama team of diplomats failed to secure the return of the four Americans held captive in Iran. Secretary Kerry recently claimed the United States tried to secure their release. So, to be clear, United States tried and failed to rescue the American captives and Iran was able to secure sanctions relief for the IRGC.
The billions of dollars injected back into the Iranian economy will almost certainly be spent on the very things Iran is currently doing including funding and directing terrorism. “We should expect that some portion of that money [coming from sanctions relief] would go to the Iranian military and could potentially be used for the kinds of bad behavior that we have seen in the region up until now.” Susan Rice, July 15, 2015
It will eventually lift the embargo on conventional arms and ballistic missiles, even though there is broad consensus this would further destabilize the region. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs General Martin E. Dempsey said in a July hearing, “Under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on Iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking.”
It’s not too early to know without a doubt that whatever little good may be in the details of the deal, they come at an inexcusably high cost. Regardless of how much the “world community” or whatever the nuclear experts in the pocket of President Obama say about it, there’s a reason the administration is avoiding the judgement of the American people. They know what winning looks like and this isn’t it.
Heinrichs is a foreign policy analyst specializing in nuclear deterrence and missile defense. She is the former manager of the House Bi-Partisan Missile Defense Caucus.
Editor’s note: This post was updated at 11:48 a.m. An earlier version did not include the final paragraph.
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