Hailing Haley
It is important to respond to “Haley: Iran deal is ‘death wish’ for Israel” (June 15), because it is so far from the truth. Please consider:
1. A February 23 Jerusalem Post headline was, “Ex-IDF generals, top Mossad officials urge Biden’s return to Iran deal.” This is just one indication that the majority of the world’s nuclear, military, and strategic experts believe that the Iran nuclear deal is the best approach to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
2 The original nuclear deal was signed in 2015 not only by the Obama administration, but also by the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China, Germany and the European Union. All of these countries and others support the US returning to the nuclear deal, as Iran is now closer to getting a nuclear weapon since president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal.
Of course many of Iran’s statements and actions must be strongly condemned and sanctions not related to the nuclear deal should be maintained, but, based on the views off military and strategic experts and most world leaders, returning to the nuclear deal is the best approach to preventing Iran from producing a nuclear weapon.
RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ, PH.D. Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island
Former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley’s visit to Israel this week is deeply appreciated, particularly in light of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s inexcusable, false claim that Israel committed “unspeakable atrocities” by defending itself with precision strikes against thousands of deadly Iranbacked Hamas rockets.
Haley’s astounding clarity of vision regarding the problems with the Iran nuclear deal has been confirmed by innumerable experts around the world continually for more than half a decade. As far back as August 2015, for example, 190 former generals and admirals sent a letter to Congressional leaders expressing opposition to the deal.
Capitulating to Iran’s demand that the US return to the original deal without fixing its most fatal flaws would be a blow to Israel and the region, and a boon to destabilization and terrorism.
If Haley is considering a future in politics, I, for one, am ready to volunteer to work for her. Where do I sign up?
BERLIN (Reuters) – The number of politically motivated crimes in Germany rose last year, as protests opposing government measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic gave a boost to the far-right, Germany’s domestic intelligence service said.
More than half of the 44,692 politically motivated crimes registered in 2020 were committed by far-right radicals, the agency said in its annual report published on Tuesday.
“Extremists and terrorists are not going into lockdown,” Thomas Haldenwang, head of the BfV domestic security agency, said at a news conference to present the report.
Germany is trying to stem a rise in violent far-right ideology. Far-right violent crimes, such as a shooting that killed nine migrants in the town of Hanau in February last year, rose by 10.6%, the report showed.
Protests against COVID-19 restrictions were influenced by right-wing radicals, the report said. “Right-wing extremists took up the coronavirus debate and almost exclusively addressed the government’s protective measures,” it added.
In August, protesters stormed the steps of the Reichstag parliament building, some of them waving far-right flags. The images went around the world and were condemned by leading German politicians.
Membership of a network of farright groups that claim allegiance to the pre-war German Reich rose last year, through contact with anti-coronavirus restrictions protesters, it said.
The number of left-wing violent crimes also surged in 2020, with the majority targeting the police and security authorities, as well as far-right protesters at anti-coronavirus lockdown demonstrations.