American Presidents are required to outline their goals, and explain the means they are employing to reach them.
For eight years, the Obama-Biden Administration engaged in a bizarre, dangerous, and unexplained Middle Eastern policy that failed miserably. It is manifestly evident that Biden is pursuing the exact same course, destroying all the gains made during the past four years.
A reasonable review of the course laid down by Obama and Biden discloses that it was contrary to the interests of peace, and that it only served to strengthen Iran’s aggressive agenda.
There is little debatable about this. Obama sent pallet-loads of untraceable cash directly to the ruling mullahs, despite the reality that they are the chief sponsors of terrorism across the globe and the major threat to the well being of their own region. Cash that could also be used to fuel their missile and nuclear efforts.
His Administration agreed to a nuclear “deal,” (the JCPOA, in reality a treaty which Obama was obligated to send to the Senate for approval, but failed to do so) that essentially gave the Tehran regime the right to develop nuclear weapons after a relatively brief passage of time, 15 years.
As a signatory to the nuclear nonproliferation pact, Iran was already obligated to forego the possession of nuclear weapons, an obligation it ignores. Why does Biden believe that yet another treaty would be followed any more diligently than one Tehran already fails to comply with?
Biden has signaled his intention to re-instate, again without the Constitutionally-mandated approval of the Senate, that deal. He has appointed Rob Malley, a key developer of the failed 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, as his special representative to resume talks with Tehran. According to Senator Tom Cotton, (R-Ark) “Malley has a long track record of sympathy for the Iranian regime & animus towards Israel. The ayatollahs wouldn’t believe their luck if he is selected.”
Some of Biden’s apologists allege that changes can to be made to improve the measure, but President Hassan Rouhani has refused to consider any significant alterations. Clearly, the only improvement that should be considered by the Biden Administration is an absolute guarantee by Tehran to fully comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, with full inspections, and forever forego the possession of atomic weaponry.
There is no indication that Iran is even remotely considering ending its nuclear program, with or without a deal. It has provided considerable resources to developing ICBMs that would serve as the means to deliver atomic weaponry. On January 15, the nation held an extensive ballistic missile drill, signaling both its current prowess and its intention to move ahead quickly ahead in developing a nuclear arsenal.
Biden’s continuing tilt towards Iran ignores not only the reality of the Mullah’s intransigence about developing nuclear weaponry, but the role that it has in strengthening the hand of American adversaries Russia, China, and North Korea. Former Presidential National Security Assistant General H.R. McMaster reports that in December of 2019, “Russian and Chinese ships joined the Iranian navy” for exercises in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman. General McMaster has said that the deal “Strengthened an adversary and undermined U.S. interests.” He based his belief on two facts. First, the deal allows the Mullahs to gain nuclear weapons within a relatively brief period of time. Second, he notes that “the agreement is divorced from the very nature of an Iranian regime that was fundamentally untrustworthy and hostile to the United States.”
Appeasement of Iran failed during the Obama-Biden Administration. In contrast, the Trump Administration’s hard line led to substantial and unprecedented regional gains. President Biden owes a thorough explanation why he is pursuing a course that strengthens America’s enemies and endangers the U.S., its regional allies, and the cause of peace.
Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy and Government
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