Of all the opponents of the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, none have been as outspoken as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. From the start, he has warned anyone who will listen of the folly of trusting Iran with nuclear capabilities. And with Congress in the middle of a 60-day review of the deal, Netanyahu is putting the pressure on U.S. lawmakers.
In an online address to American and Canadian Jews this week, Netanyahu said that Obama’s deal gave the Islamic Republic “two paths to the bomb.” Whether they abide by the agreement or cheat, he said, they will ultimately gain possession of a nuclear weapon. “This deal will bring war,” he said, eschewing Obama’s suggestion that war was the sole alternative to negotiations. “Increase the sanctions, increase the pressure.”
Netanyahu said that the deal would likely lead to the “nightmare” scenario of a Middle Eastern arms race, a concern echoed by many regional experts. Such a scenario could put Israel in extraordinary jeopardy, to say nothing of its effects on the United States. He also warned that Iran was building intercontinental missiles for the express purpose of hitting the U.S.
“Here’s the bottom line,” he said. “Oppose this bad deal.”
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a viable political strategy for overturning Obama’s deal. Any opposition from Congress will be swiftly vetoed by the president. There’s an outside chance that enough Democrats could cross the aisle to override the veto, but the numbers aren’t promising. And given the track record of Republican lawmakers when it comes to blocking Obama’s agenda, there’s little reason to hope for a miracle.
That leaves us to wait and watch and pray that Iran does not have its heart set on a nuke. It feels foolish to even entertain such a notion, but this president has given us no other options. We all know this is going to lead to a disaster down the road, but we are powerless to do anything but stand by and wait for the mushroom cloud. This is the legacy of Barack Obama. To leave the U.S. and her allies in a world of danger.
It would be nice if we were wrong about this one. To think that Iran’s theocracy has turned over a new leaf. That international inspectors will be able to catch cheating in time to prevent tragedy. To hope that someone in the Obama administration actually knows what they’re doing.
But Netanyahu’s warnings, sadly, sound a lot more plausible.