The White House’s intense push to have the Iran nuclear agreement ratified raises significant questions as to what Mr. Obamas goals are.
There is little doubt that the deal is significantly flawed, from the perspective of those seeking to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Due to that reality and statements by Iranian leaders indicating they will not uphold their end of the bargain, several senior and influential Democrats, close allies of the President, have chosen not to endorse the measure.
Mr. Obama’s unusually keen desire to enact the pact extends to the legally questionable tactic of not labelling it a treaty, which it clearly is, in order to avoid the Constitutional requirement of gaining a two-thirds majority in the Senate. (Black’s Law Dictionary defines a “treaty”as “A compact made between two or more independent nations with a view to the public welfare.” There is little legal reason to define the Iran agreement as anything other than a treaty.)
The most optimistic interpretation and fulfillment of the agreement’s provision still allows Iran to develop nuclear weapons and the missiles to launch them within the relatively near future. Given the Ayatollah Khamenei’s recent pledge to wipe out Israel within 25 years, that alone should induce the White House to pull back. Instead, working with Senate Democrats who remain allied with the President on the matter, procedural steps are being formulated to filibuster against any resolution of opposition to it.
Indisputably, Iran will obtain an extraordinary financial windfall as a result of the measure. Estimates are that $150 billion will be released in just the first six months. Unfortunately, nothing in the deal prevents the use of those funds to finance Tehran’s robust and far-flung support for terrorism. Of particular note for America is the fact that a portion of those terrorist activities occur within its own hemisphere, as outlined several weeks ago by the Menges organization’s America’s Report. http://www.theamericasreport.com/2015/08/11/dangerous-military-project-supported-by-iran-likely-to-be-strengthened-as-iran-obtains-sanctions-relief/.
Of course, Iran’s main focus remains within the Islamic world. The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) https://armedservices.house.gov/ outlined Tehran’s terrorist activities:
“Iran’s support of rogue regimes, proxies, terrorists, and criminal organizations is one of its main strategies to support its revolutionary ideology and increase its dominance in the Middle East. Malign activities are focused on Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria; as well as illicit activities in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. The intent of these activities is to assert Iran’s influence over certain governments in the Middle East, and challenge Israel and Western countries’ influence and dominance.
Network of Terrorist Groups, Criminal Entities, and Insurgent Organizations are active in:
Afghanistan: Iran uses cash payments to support political candidates in Afghanistan. Iran also supports the Taliban with cash and arms to counter U.S. and Western influence in Afghanistan.
Bahrain: Iran supports Shia factions in opposition to the Government of Bahrain.
Manifestation of ED through psychological cause can include stress, past sexual abuse, anxiety, depression, or problem in click this cheapest tadalafil uk relationship. To avoid such problems, online drug companies have invented many PDE5 inhibitors. tadalafil 20mg canada Discover More This problem can levitra pharmacy lead to dissatisfaction between the couple. Considering currently being displayed around 1998, preceding Republican presidential applicant Chad Dole features served as being a associate for the prescription medication, the actual assembling with the phony products features expert the most notable, and generic viagra germany http://www.slovak-republic.org/docs/schengen-visa-application.pdf jokes are the changeless attribute with the pop culture.
Israel and Lebanon: Lebanese Hezbollah – designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997 – is Iran’s primary proxy organization, where it takes advantage of “millions of dollars, training, weapons and modern equipment” provided by Iran. Iran continues to supply Hezbollah with a range of weapons to include modern artillery, anti-ship and anti-tank capabilities, and up to 100,000 rockets and missiles with the objective of targeting Israel. Iran also arms, funds, and trains Hamas as a proxy to attack Israel with both rockets and missile technology it supplies.
Iraq: Iran also uses cash payments to fund political candidates in Iraq. Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) trains, equips, and supports Shia militias. IRGC Quds Force commanders support many Shiite militias in operations in Iraq. Many of these are the same Shia militias that killed US military service members in Iraq- numerous U.S. military personnel were casualties in Iraq due to Iranian activities, including high-powered improvised explosive devices.
Saudi Arabia: Iranian-supported Hezbollah maintains political and military wings in Saudi Arabia where their commander, Ahmed al-Mughassil, masterminded the 1996 Khobar Towers attack that killed 19 U.S. Service Members. Iran has also launched cyber-attacks against Saudi Arabia.
Syria: As Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah provides military aid and advises the Assad regime. Iran also directly employs its IRGC forces in Syria.
Yemen: Iran continues its support of the Shiite Houthi rebellion in Yemen with arms and other aid.
United States: In addition to the Iranian-backed plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in Washington D.C., Lebanese Hezbollah, a proxy terrorist organization of Iran, fundraises in the United States. The largest Hezbollah fundraising scheme – that raised millions for the group – was broken up in the United States in 2002 as part of Operation Smokescreen.
Cyber Activities: Iran’s leaders have said the nuclear deal will have no effect on malign activities, including cyber. Iran’s cyber activity and investments are designed to provide an asymmetric advantage for the regime. Iran reportedly conducted cyber operations in 2012 against Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco, and erased data on 75 percent of the company computers. A recent report by the Norse Corporation and AEI uncovered an extensive dark-web of cyber-attacks stemming from Iran. The report detailed infrastructure dedicated to malicious cyber activity against foreign targets, including the United States, which escalated by over 100 percent during the period of the Norse study.
Ballistic Missiles: Under the deal, Iran’s ballistic missile program, including ICBM development, will become an even greater threat. Iran will be allowed to maintain the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. Iran built this capability despite a “crippling” sanctions regime. Disregarding warnings from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey that “under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on Iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking,” the Iran deal ends restrictions there were on missile development and testing within 8 years and allows Iran to cooperate with Russia, China, and North Korea to more quickly field more dangerous ballistic missiles with ever greater ranges. ”
The lop-sided (in favor of Iran) nature of the deal, Iran’s apparent intention not to comply with the generally understood terms of several provisions, and the dangerous use of released funds raise questions concerning the White House’s intense support for the measure.