An Iran Nuclear Weapons Deal Misunderstanding

Pierre Atlas, in Real Clear World had one.

…the accord is meant to keep it from building [a nuclear weapon], at least for the next 10 years. The question that the deal’s opponents, such as the Republican presidential candidates or Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, must answer is this: what is the realistic, plausible alternative to JCPOA that will achieve the same goal, short of going to war?

No, first Atlas and his fellow apologists for this “deal” must first establish that the arrangement will prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Along with that, Atlas and his fellows must demonstrate how we’ll know Iran has reneged on this arrangement before they explode a test article, since both the arrangement and Iranian government officials, from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on down, say they will not allow inspections at their nuclear development facilities that are housed in military bases and the arrangement explicitly allows Iran to delay inspections at civilian nuclear facilities for weeks at a time before the first inspector can walk through the front door.

Next he and his must provide a plausible plan of action for the period beginning at the end of his 10 years—granting for the sake of his argument that Iran will not sooner build a nuclear bomb—when Iran will be free of restraints and can build to its heart’s content.

Then Atlas undermined his argument by offering one version of an alternative:

Congress could instead offer legislation to shore up JCPOA and give American diplomacy a coercive edge. It could pass a bill authorizing the use of military force by the current and future presidents should Iran renege on its commitments. It could pass a resolution offering US support to any country that might be attacked by Iran.

Of course, he elided the fact that Congress can—and should—do this while rejecting the arrangement.

And he carefully ignored the value of that support to an Israel not merely “attacked” by Iran, but obliterated by them with at most four nuclear devices.

Isn’t Atlas’ alternative “going to war,” though? Only later, maybe, when Iran’s program is farther along and facilities better hardened. A military strike now, properly constructed, would eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons program without war, since it would leave Iran without the means to prosecute their war, other than the way they’re fighting their already in progress war: funding and arming their terrorist clients.

Bluster?

Or moral equivalence sewage? Of course, the two aren’t mutually exclusive….

Secretary of State John Kerry called Thursday for all claimants to disputed territories in the South China to Sea immediately halt provocative activities that have ratcheted up tensions in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. He also said the United States would not accept restrictions on navigation or overflights of the disputed territories

In remarks to East Asian officials in Malaysia, Kerry proposed a joint commitment from all involved….

Because the nations defending themselves and their territories from PRC aggression are being every bit as provocative as the PRC.

Too, what action does Kerry propose if the PRC doesn’t go along with this?

Anybody? Bueller?

Mindset Matters

David Brooks had an interesting piece in Friday’s New York Times concerning our defeat at the “negotiating” table with Iran regarding the latter’s nuclear weapons program. RTWT, but a couple of comments of his really jumped out at me as he explored how this administration’s failure came about.

The big question is, Why did we lose? Why did the combined powers of the Western world lose to a ragtag regime with a crippled economy and without much popular support?

The first big answer is that the Iranians just wanted victory more than we did. They were willing to withstand the kind of punishment we were prepared to mete out.

Further, the Iranians were confident in their power, while the Obama administration emphasized the limits of America’s ability to influence other nations.

As an aside, I say “this administration’s failure” when it was the “combined powers of the Western world” because we’re the big dog in that pack, or we used to be, and on top of that, French dissatisfaction with the way things were going was palpable. Had we actually been interested in a serious outcome, they could have brought the Germans along, and that would have left the Russians and Chinese having either to admit that they wanted a nuclear-armed Iran or to go along with us.

More important, though, is that mindset. President Barack Obama and his motorboat skipper SecState didn’t want to mete out sufficient pain to force Iran’s acquiescence to our nominal going-in position because those two gentlemen didn’t think that was an appropriate use of our ability to influence other nations. Even terrorist supporting rogue nations.

All He’s Got

…to defend his nuclear weapons deal is ad hominem attacks on those who disagree with him. That’s President Barack Obama’s abject confession that he knows it’s a bad deal.

Republican opposition as “knee-jerk partisanship….”

And

It’s those hardliners chanting “death to America” who have been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican caucus[.]

And

…critics of the deal, who he said were “selling a fantasy” to the American people.

Hmm….

Another Fine VA Mess

And another reason to disband the thing and send its budget as health care vouchers to our veterans.

A VA employee tossed files containing the Social Security numbers and other personal information of 1,100 patients of a South Dakota VA hospital into a dumpster, where they sat for two days before they were discovered and recovered. This happened last May, but the VA chose not to tell anyone, like those patients, about it until the end of July.

Mistakes happen, even egregious things like this. What’s unacceptable is the decision by this VA hospital, condoned by the VA itself (if only through its own inaction and silence) to withhold information about this breach from the breach’s victims for so long.

That decision is part of a too-long standing pattern of VA malfeasance and VA decisions to do nothing about themselves.