Archive | IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL RSS feed for this section

Mark Caserta: President wisely ends the Iran nuclear deal

18 May

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

5.18.18

 

Trump “nukes” Iran Deal

trump iran deal

 

 

The defining measure by which Donald Trump will be judged will not be his tweets, his relationships or even his politically incorrect style. President Trump will be remembered for the peace and prosperity he ushered in for all Americans.

Prosperity has been added for millions in tax cuts and jobs. As the president establishes a foothold in global leadership, he’s working toward achieving peace through strength. As a skilled negotiator, Donald Trump understands you must operate from a position of strength.

Weakness is a poor strategy for winning.

It was the Obama administration’s policies espousing apology and appeasement that diminished the strength of the U.S. on the world stage. Sadly, this sort of negotiating prowess gave Americans the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA), I believe this deal, between the U.S., Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union, was nothing more than a “paper tiger” for Barack Obama. From the beginning of his campaign, Donald Trump promised Americans he would “nuke” the deal if elected president.

True to his word, after attempts at renegotiating the deal, President Trump announced last Tuesday the U.S. will withdraw from the JCPA and reimpose economic sanctions on Iraq. In a show of Trumpian strength, the president added that any nation helping Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the U.S.

Understand, the Iran nuclear deal was never an official treaty. President Obama never secured the support of the Senate for the deal. Congress did pass the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act in 2015 that requires the president to certify to Congress every 90 days that Iran remains in compliance with the deal and that sanctions relief remains in the national security interest of the United States.

Also understand, the JCPA wasn’t intended to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. It’s “sunset provisions” allowed Iran to continue pursuing nuclear proliferation after about 10 years.

But the immensely nave premise overshadowing the deal required the U.S. to “trust” Iran to adhere to the provisions of the agreement. Remember, this is a nation whose head of their army, Abdolrahim Mousavi, recently threatened to annihilate Israel in response to tensions escalating between the two countries, per an April column in The Telegraph, by Rana Sweis.

Israel, a nation cognizant of the Iran threat, wisely maintained vigilance over Iran’s nuclear aspirations. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed conclusive evidence Iran had not been complying with the JCPA and was, in fact, hiding its nuclear arms capabilities from the world.

From the Diplomatic Room in the White House, President Trump aptly described his reasoning behind killing the deal on behalf of the American people.

“The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen,” Trump said. “In just a short period of time, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons.”

Thankfully, many of Obama policies that crippled America for eight long years are disappearing under Donald Trump. But the eradication of the JCPA may have been Trump’s greatest accomplishment thus far, benefitting not only Americans, but Israel and the world.

Peace through strength, simply put, is a possession of power that never has to be demonstrated. This can only be achieved through true leadership.

Our enemies and allies once again revere the power of the United States and presume an unwavering resolve from our president in his negotiations on behalf of all Americans.

This will be the legacy of President Donald J. Trump.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

 

 

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don’t Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the ‘Report’ link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

 

Tags: , , ,

Mark Caserta: Iran nuclear deal could yield disaster

29 Jan

mark

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

1.29.16

Americans believe terrorism is our No. 1 problem, according to a recent Gallup Poll.

But could the U.S. actually be helping finance terrorist activity? Well, according to our nation’s top diplomat, it’s very likely.

iran nuclear 1

As reported by multiple news agencies, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted last week that a portion of the billions of dollars of U.S. sanctions relief from the Obama administration’s controversial nuclear deal with Iran will likely support terrorist groups. During an interview just outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Kerry confirmed the stunning information.

 

“I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” he acknowledged to CNBC. “You know, to some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented.”

 

These “labeled” terrorists could acquire a portion of roughly $100 billion in sanctions relief, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The money, derived mainly from Iranian oil sales, has reportedly been tied up in international banks as a result of the sanctions. But now, these funds are being freed into the hands of people who really don’t care much for America.

 

So, let me see if I understand this scenario. Not only is the United States paving the way for a nuclear prolific Iran and a potential arms race in the Middle East, we’re actually going to help finance the terrorists who will eventually seek to use it toward our destruction?

 

Frankly, the elements of this agreement reach new levels of lunacy. Appeasement and compromise have always been deemed acts of weakness by our enemies and come as no surprise from this administration. But any proposition that actually helps fund our nation’s greatest fear seems to me to be nothing short of treason.

 

Iran has been recognized by the U.S. State Department as a state sponsor of terror for years and has never given America any reason to trust it – in fact, quite the opposite.

Iran has perpetually lied about its nuclear aspirations, claiming it was strictly for peaceful purposes.

 

A December 2015 report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated that Iran “had carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device” and that some activities may still be ongoing.

 

And Iran remains a sworn enemy of the U.S. and Israel. In March 2015, amid negotiations with the United States and its allies, a speech by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was interrupted by the chant “Death to America.” He reportedly smiled and responded, “Of course yes, death to America.”

 

Americans simply cannot feel safe with an administration that consistently proves it’s willing to gamble with lives for no other reason than to adorn this president’s legacy.

 

We need leadership in 2016 that will put an end to this deal and other “fruits” of this failed liberal experiment.

 

Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran just might be pivotal to disaster for the U.S.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

Tags: , ,

Mark Caserta: Congress should shut down deal with Iran

10 Sep

Obama, Kerry, Hillary and Democrats will have blood on their hands.

mark

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

Upon Congress’ return to Washington this week, its members’ plate will certainly be full of contentious topics. But none is any more critical than the Iran nuclear deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

After reviewing many of the provisions of this international agreement, I’m not only concerned at the number of dangerous concessions the deal makes to Iran, but also the way it betrays our allies and gives aid to a sworn enemy of the United States and Israel.

The basic mechanism of the accord involves trading previously imposed sanctions for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear proliferation. And while there are a number of stipulations which could impede Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, the long-term problems are numerous.

 bo bn 3

First, the restrictions on uranium enrichment are time-based and would expire at some point in the future, ultimately opening a door for Iran to continue building its nuclear program and possibly creating a Middle East nuclear arms race. Time will not change the fact that Iran is a staunch enemy of Israel and has vowed to destroy that country.

And Iran is clearly no friend of the United States. Incredibly, just one day after Obama appealed to Iranians in a video message to seize a “historic opportunity” for a nuclear deal and a better future, Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei called for “death to America”!

On top of reducing sanctions in return for Iran’s promise of “good behavior,” the U.S. along with five other members of the U.N. Security Council and the European Union commit to assist Iran in developing their energy assets, finance, technology and trade. Why help strengthen the infrastructure of one of the most evil regimes in the world?

bo bn 2

The deal allows Iran to maintain its own nuclear reactors as long as they don’t continue to grow their capacity to enrich the core material needed for a nuclear weapon. A monitoring and verification system conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is planned to enforce Iran’s compliance, but the verification system is severely flawed.

Apparently, the agreement requires IAEA to give Iran 24 days before any facility inspection. What good is an announced inspection, regardless of the amount of time?

 And possibly the most alarming part of the Iran deal is a provision which could place the U.S. in a position of having to help defend Iran’s nuclear facilities from attacks from other nations, including Israel. A statute in one of the deal’s annexes states the U.S. and its partners will provide “Co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage, as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems.”

While interpretation of this provision varies, the disintegrating relationship between Israel and the Obama administration gives one reason to worry.

words 4

Simply put, any deal that allows Iran to become a nuclear power at any point is a poor one. The JCPOA is naive agreement based on trust that Iran has never earned.

Congress should shut this deal down.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

Tags: , , ,