Indy Star editorial, March 17th
GOP senators speak inconvenient truth about Iran
Jonah Goldberg 1:11 p.m. EDT March 17, 2015
An
Iranian oil worker walks at Tehran's oil refinery south of the Capital
in Iran. As world powers edge toward a possible nuclear deal with Iran,
the debate has been dominated by the question whether it leaves an
opening for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.(Photo: AP)
It has been an Iranian tradition since 1979 to end Friday prayers with chants of "Death to America!"
In
a purely rational world, that would be all one needed to know that Iran
is not a reliable negotiating partner. Alas, we do not live in such a
world. But there's more evidence. Iran, according to our State
Department, has been the chief exporter of terrorism for the last three
decades. It has worked closely with al-Qaida, facilitating its attacks
on America and our allies. Most of the Sept. 11 hijackers traveled
through Iran with the help of the Iranian government. U.S. judges have
ruled that Iran was an accomplice in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in
East Africa and the Sept. 11 attacks. During the Iraq war, Iran was
responsible for numerous American deaths.
And it's not like any of
this is ancient history. Indeed, in 2012, the Treasury Department
designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security as a major
promoter of terrorism and violator of human rights.
Now, via its
brutal proxies, Iran is manipulating events on the ground in four Arab
capitals - Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and Sanaa. Whatever success there
has been against the Islamic State in Saddam Hussein's hometown of
Tikrit has been thanks to Iranian advisers operating in Iraq and the
Shiite Muslim militias they control. On Sunday's "Meet the Press,"
retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said he fears Iran more than Islamic State.
So, obviously, the
greatest villain in the world today is ... Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. He
led the effort to get 46 other senators to sign a letter to the Iranian
government explaining that any deal with Iran would require
congressional approval.
The New York Daily News branded them all
"TRAITORS" on its front page. Isn't it amazing how even vaguely
questioning the patriotism of liberals is an outrage beyond the borders
of acceptable debate, but branding 47 GOP senators "traitors" is treated
as at least forgivable bombast? Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton told the
Washington Post they aren't traitors, they're merely "mutinous,"
revealing Eaton's shocking ignorance of our constitutional structure.
Yes, Obama is the commander in chief of the armed forces, but he is not
the commander in chief of the co-equal legislative branch.
Petitions
are circling to have the senators carted off to jail under the Logan
Act - which bars unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign
governments - a ridiculously antiquated law that would never survive
Supreme Court scrutiny today.
Moreover, if the Logan Act were
taken seriously, many of the lions of the Democratic Party, including
Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Nancy Pelosi and Robert Byrd, would have
ended their careers behind bars. Why, John Kerry - who recently
denounced the Cotton letter as "unconstitutional" - could show Cotton
around the federal penitentiary, given Kerry's egregious meddling in
Nicaragua during the Reagan administration.
Now, I should say that
I think the senators made a mistake. They should have written an open
letter to President Obama. The Iranians would still have gotten the
message, but the White House and the punditocracy would have found it
more difficult to rationalize their insane hissy fit. And contrary to
countless outlets reporting that the Republicans "sent" this letter to
the ayatollahs, they didn't send it anywhere. It was posted on Cotton's
website.
The more important point here is that no one disagrees
with the content of the letter because it is accurate. The White House
had to admit that Cotton was right; the deal as it stands would be a
"nonbinding" agreement. And, therefore, as the letter explains, "The
next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke
of a pen."
(In fact, Obama did pretty much exactly that with an
agreement struck between Israel and the United States about settlement
growth in Palestinian territories.)
This premature admission is
politically inconvenient for the Obama administration because it wants
to get the United Nations to approve the deal, making it a fait
accompli. It hoped to get to that point without anyone noticing.
The
Cotton letter is not mutinous or traitorous or unconstitutional. It is
inconvenient, and apparently being inconvenient in the age of Obama is
all it takes to be called unpatriotic.
Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. You can contact him at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com, or via Twitter @JonahNRO.
GOP senators speak inconvenient truth about Iran
Jonah Goldberg 1:11 p.m. EDT March 17, 2015
An
Iranian oil worker walks at Tehran's oil refinery south of the Capital
in Iran. As world powers edge toward a possible nuclear deal with Iran,
the debate has been dominated by the question whether it leaves an
opening for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.(Photo: AP)
It has been an Iranian tradition since 1979 to end Friday prayers with chants of "Death to America!"
In
a purely rational world, that would be all one needed to know that Iran
is not a reliable negotiating partner. Alas, we do not live in such a
world. But there's more evidence. Iran, according to our State
Department, has been the chief exporter of terrorism for the last three
decades. It has worked closely with al-Qaida, facilitating its attacks
on America and our allies. Most of the Sept. 11 hijackers traveled
through Iran with the help of the Iranian government. U.S. judges have
ruled that Iran was an accomplice in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in
East Africa and the Sept. 11 attacks. During the Iraq war, Iran was
responsible for numerous American deaths.
And it's not like any of
this is ancient history. Indeed, in 2012, the Treasury Department
designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security as a major
promoter of terrorism and violator of human rights.
Now, via its
brutal proxies, Iran is manipulating events on the ground in four Arab
capitals - Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and Sanaa. Whatever success there
has been against the Islamic State in Saddam Hussein's hometown of
Tikrit has been thanks to Iranian advisers operating in Iraq and the
Shiite Muslim militias they control. On Sunday's "Meet the Press,"
retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said he fears Iran more than Islamic State.
So, obviously, the
greatest villain in the world today is ... Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. He
led the effort to get 46 other senators to sign a letter to the Iranian
government explaining that any deal with Iran would require
congressional approval.
The New York Daily News branded them all
"TRAITORS" on its front page. Isn't it amazing how even vaguely
questioning the patriotism of liberals is an outrage beyond the borders
of acceptable debate, but branding 47 GOP senators "traitors" is treated
as at least forgivable bombast? Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton told the
Washington Post they aren't traitors, they're merely "mutinous,"
revealing Eaton's shocking ignorance of our constitutional structure.
Yes, Obama is the commander in chief of the armed forces, but he is not
the commander in chief of the co-equal legislative branch.
Petitions
are circling to have the senators carted off to jail under the Logan
Act - which bars unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign
governments - a ridiculously antiquated law that would never survive
Supreme Court scrutiny today.
Moreover, if the Logan Act were
taken seriously, many of the lions of the Democratic Party, including
Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Nancy Pelosi and Robert Byrd, would have
ended their careers behind bars. Why, John Kerry - who recently
denounced the Cotton letter as "unconstitutional" - could show Cotton
around the federal penitentiary, given Kerry's egregious meddling in
Nicaragua during the Reagan administration.
Now, I should say that
I think the senators made a mistake. They should have written an open
letter to President Obama. The Iranians would still have gotten the
message, but the White House and the punditocracy would have found it
more difficult to rationalize their insane hissy fit. And contrary to
countless outlets reporting that the Republicans "sent" this letter to
the ayatollahs, they didn't send it anywhere. It was posted on Cotton's
website.
The more important point here is that no one disagrees
with the content of the letter because it is accurate. The White House
had to admit that Cotton was right; the deal as it stands would be a
"nonbinding" agreement. And, therefore, as the letter explains, "The
next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke
of a pen."
(In fact, Obama did pretty much exactly that with an
agreement struck between Israel and the United States about settlement
growth in Palestinian territories.)
This premature admission is
politically inconvenient for the Obama administration because it wants
to get the United Nations to approve the deal, making it a fait
accompli. It hoped to get to that point without anyone noticing.
The
Cotton letter is not mutinous or traitorous or unconstitutional. It is
inconvenient, and apparently being inconvenient in the age of Obama is
all it takes to be called unpatriotic.
Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. You can contact him at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com, or via Twitter @JonahNRO.
