THE BETRAYAL – AT 11:31 A.M. ET: I don't normally quote former Secretary of State James Baker here. I never liked him. But he wrote wisely in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about the need to keep sanctions on Iran until the Iranians proved they are sticking to the nuclear agreement that presumably will be finalized by June 30th. Trouble is, by the end of yesterday, Obama had already signaled that he was willing to cave in on sanctions to get the deal. From the Journal:
Former secretary of state James Baker called on the Obama administration to hold firm on sanctions against Iran until verifiable mechanisms are in place to ensure the Islamic Republic’s compliance of any nuclear deal.
Writing an opinion piece for the Friday edition of The Wall Street Journal, the former top diplomat in the George H.W. Bush administration said that while he commended the current president’s efforts to solve a thorny issue without resorting to military force, he cautioned that Washington must rally its P5+1 allies to demonstrate steadfastness, particularly in light of Iran’s poor track record in adhering to international commitments.
“Iranian leaders quickly disputed key points about the White House’s description of the terms of the [framework] agreement,” Baker wrote. “Among them was Iran’s demand that all sanctions be removed once a final deal is signed.”
“That is a far cry from the US understanding that sanctions will only be removed over time, as Iran meets its obligations. This different Iranian position may have been aimed at Iran’s domestic audience. But if Iran holds to it, there should be no final agreement.”
Baker added that any threat to keep the sanctions in place can only be effective if it is Iran that is perceived as the obstructionist party that refused the deal, not the US, particularly given the fact that European countries as well as others are eager to resume doing business with the Islamic Republic.
COMMENT: As a result of Obama's statement yesterday that he's willing to consider lifting sanctions immediately to make it easier for Iran's leaders to sell the deal to hardliners, Baker's advice is obsolete. We've already given in. In fact, it's hard to keep up with the pace of Obama's appeasement.
The sanctions will probably be lifted immediately. Obama will lie to us once more by saying they can be reimposed if Iran cheats, but they never will be reimposed. First, Obama, with European help, will never certify that Iran was cheating. And business interests will demand that they continue to do business in Iran, something that will be very popular in amoral Europe.
April 18, 2015 |