Suddenly, the world is a more dangerous place
Bill Press calls exiting the Iran nuclear deal one of the most dangerous moves in the U.S. presidency’s history.
If you thought Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous...If you thought we had nothing to worry about because he was just some clown who ended up in the Oval Office through a fluke in the Electoral College and did nothing worse than tweet out insults ten times a day...Think again.
By unilaterally shredding the Iran Nuclear Deal, Donald Trump has just made one of the most dangerous moves in the history of the American presidency, triggering the resumption of a nuclear arms race and exposing the planet to the very real risk of nuclear war.
But let’s first be clear why Trump did this. No matter what he claims, from his point of view, there was only one reason for pulling the United States out of the Iran deal. Not because it was a bad deal. Not because he had a better deal up his sleeve. But solely because it was made by Barack Obama.
Donald Trump pulled the plug on the Iran nuclear deal for the same reason he tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, withdrew the United States from the Paris Accords on Climate Change, revoked every new antipollution regulation of EPA, and, allegedly, paid prostitutes to urinate on a Moscow hotel bed: Because he’s obsessed with undoing, good or bad, anything connected with former President Barack Obama. If Obama had been against the Iran nuclear deal, Trump would be for it.
Trump’s action came as no surprise. As candidate, he promised to cancel the deal. As president, he’s done nothing but condemn it. What was somewhat surprising is that, after 18 months in the White House, he could come up with no better case for withdrawal than a string of lies.
Lie number one: It’s a bad deal. Not true. As former UN Ambassador Susan Rice wrote in the New York Times, according to terms of the deal, “Iran relinquished 97 percent of its enriched uranium stockpile, dismantled two-thirds of its centrifuges and its entire plutonium facility, abided by the most intrusive international inspection and monitoring regime in history, and forswore ever producing a nuclear weapon.” What more do you want?
Lie number two: Iran was not in compliance. Not true. Trump’s assertion has been repeatedly contradicted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the State Department, the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and the CIA, all of which have certified that Iran is living up to terms of the agreement. Then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo recently told Congress: “I have seen no evidence that they are not in compliance today.”
Lie number three: Trump will come up with a better deal. This is a classic Trumpism. Every time he breaks a deal, he promises a new one but never delivers. He made the same promise when repealing Obamacare, pulling out of the Paris Accords, scrubbing NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, and ending DACA. Each time, the promise of a better deal. Each time, nothing. Same with Iran. There is no Plan B.
Lie number four, which actually came at the beginning of a Cabinet meeting the day after Trump’s announcement: that other countries are “all very happy with his decision.” How could he say that after, in one week, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, and the Foreign Minister of the UK all came to Washington to plead with him NOT to pull out of the deal -- and, once he did so anyway, issued a joint statement condemning his decision?
Lie number five: This makes the world a safer place. No, no, no. Just the opposite. The world is today a much more dangerous place. Because a rogue nation, which had agreed to abandon any efforts to build a nuclear weapon for at least seven years, and maybe fifteen, has suddenly been given a green light by Donald Trump to resume production, which will only further destabilize the entire Middle East.
Ironically, Trump’s decision to shred the Iran nuclear accords comes on the threshold of an upcoming summit and potential deal with North Korea -- which conservatives have always warned against because, they argue, you can’t trust North Koreans to live up to the terms of any deal. Thanks to Donald Trump, it’s now just the opposite. After what happened with the Paris Accords and the Iran Nuclear Deal, it’s no longer the North Koreans who can’t be trusted to stick to a deal. It’s the United States.
Bill Press is syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. His email address is: bill@billpress. com.