Friday, March 13, 2015
From: Gary L. Bauer
Iran Declares Victory
When Barack Obama ran for president in 2007, he stunned some observers by saying that he would talk with America’s enemies without preconditions. In 2007 the New York Times wrote this:
“Senator Barack Obama says he would ‘engage in aggressive personal diplomacy’ with Iran if elected president and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek ‘regime change’ if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues.”
Critics of Obama’s approach said he was being naive and that he would give undue credibility and legitimacy to the world’s worst actors. His critics were right. Six years into his administration, there is no measure by which Obama’s “aggressive personal diplomacy” can be considered a success.
Iran is clearly not cooperating on nuclear issues. But Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif recently declared that no matter how the negotiations turn out, Iran has won. Zarif said:
“We are the winner whether the negotiations yield results or not. The capital we have obtained over the years is dignity and self-esteem, a capital that cannot be retaken.”
Iran has won far more than just self-esteem. It has won territory too. Iran never “stopped meddling in Iraq” and now controls much of the country.
The New Persian Empire
Ali Younesi, a former intelligence minister and key adviser to President Rouhani (a supposed moderate), said this week: “Iran today has become an empire like it used to be . . . and its capital now is Baghdad.” Younesi continued, “All of the Middle East is Iranian.”
If you’re skeptical about the Iranian rhetoric, consider what Dr. Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a pillar of the elite foreign policy establishment, said yesterday on MSNBC:
“What we have to understand is that Baghdad and the south [of Iraq] are now part of Greater Iran. . . . Iraq is over. Rest in peace. . . . What you’re looking at is an Iraq that is an extension of Iran. . . . They’ve made that border [the Iraq/Iran border] irrelevant.”
Even the liberal Washington Post is alarmed by Obama’s failed Middle East policy. In its lead editorial today, the paper warns, “Any nuclear deal should not result in Washington turning a blind eye to Tehran’s activities.” The editors continue:
“According to news accounts, Mr. Obama has dispatched four private letters to the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The most recent one, in October, assured the ayatollah that the United States would not attack Iranian forces or those of its Syrian ally in operations against the Islamic State. . .
“Publicly, Mr. Obama said in an interview in December that he hoped a nuclear deal ‘would serve as the basis for us trying to improve relations over time’; if Iran agreed to the accord, he added, it could become ‘a very successful regional power.'”
When did it become the goal of U.S. foreign policy to make the Islamic Republic of Iran — whose leader refers to America as “the great Satan” — a “very successful regional power”? Who voted for that? Is any member of Congress on board with this?
From Hamas To The White House
This isn’t the only dramatic shift in U.S. foreign policy taking place. If the administration’s anti-Israel stance wasn’t obvious enough, it is undeniable now.
The White House recently promoted Robert Malley to be the Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East. Malley is so anti-Israel the Obama campaign fired him in 2008 after it was revealed that he had met with the terrorist group Hamas. Now Malley is directing Middle East policy at the White House.
The Pro-Abortion Left
Left-wing politicians usually go out of their way to deny their radical pro-abortion position. But their actions betray them.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to bring up legislation this week to combat human sex trafficking. Since the bill passed unanimously out of committee, everyone assumed it would be an easy bi-partisan victory.
Unbelievably, Senate liberals objected and prevented a vote on the Senate floor yesterday. At issue is language in the bill that prohibits using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions. This is not a controversial provision. Hyde Amendment language (as it is called in Washington) has been routinely approved for nearly four decades.
Senator McConnell offered them the chance to vote on an amendment to strip the Hyde Amendment language out of the bill, but Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid refused. He knows he doesn’t have the votes. His only leverage is to filibuster the entire bill. Senator McConnell called his bluff and will force a vote next week.
It may seem difficult to believe, but this how rabidly pro-abortion some politicians are. The only way they will help victims of sexual exploitation is if taxpayers are forced to pay for abortions.
Faith Under Fire
Tuesday I reported on the controversy involving former SEAL chaplain Lt. Commander Wes Modder. We are working with a coalition of pro-family organizations to protest the outrageous persecution of this honorable man of faith.
TAKE ACTION: Click here now to sign a petition to Pentagon leaders supporting Chaplain Modder. Please be certain to share it with friends and family members.
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