CONNOR HOFFMAN
Staff Writer
For years, Iran has not listened nearly every time the U.S. has asked it to drop its nuclear program. But now, President Barack Obama thinks this time is different, and that Iran is ready to negotiate.
This recent announcement of negotiations with Iran caused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress on March 2. This caused controversy with many prominent democrats in Washington. Israel has a long history of having problems with Iran and is one of the strongest opponents of Iran getting a nuclear bomb due to the close proximity of these countries.
According to NBC, more than 50 Democrats boycotted the speech, and neither Obama nor Vice President Joe Biden would be there. Netanyahu addressed these claims in his speech.
“I deeply regret that some perceive my being here as political. That was never my intention,” said Netanyahu. “It doesn’t block the bomb … It paves Iran’s path to the bomb.”
Israel and the U.S., for a long period of time, have had a very special relationship, and Obama should not risk this to please Iran.
“America and Israel, we share a common destiny: the destiny of promised lands that cherish freedom and offer hope,” commented Netanyahu.
The Prime Minister went on to explain just how radical and dangerous the regime was to Congress. He mentioned how the 1979 Iranian Revolution led to the creation of this radical government that is determined to fulfill the ideals of Jihad, which is a holy war Muslims are supposed to wage against non-believers.
He mentioned how the world is trying to give the new government of President Rouhani a chance to modernize and change Iran but that this regime is worse than ever.
“Rohani’s government hangs gays, persecutes Christians, jails journalists and executes even more prisoners than before,” said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu disputed Obama’s logic that talking to Iran would help defeat ISIS. He mentioned, with regard to Israel and ISIS, that “the enemy of your enemy is your enemy.”
“I’ll say it one more time — the greatest dangers facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war,” explained Netanyahu.
He spoke about the implications that this would have for the world and why Israel and the US should stand together. “May God bless the state of Israel, and may God bless the United States of America,” said Netanyahu at the end of his speech.
The Republicans in Congress applauded Netanyahu enthusiastically and have thrown much support behind his speech. The Democrats, however, have expressed opposition toward this speech.
House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi was very upset with Netanyahu’s words.
“I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States and saddened by the condensation toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran,” said Pelosi.
Other Democrats in Congress have expressed their disagreements with Netanyahu, as well. Representative John Yarmuth commented, “I resent the condescending tone.” Yarmuth also accused him of fear mongering and said “now he can go home,” and Representative Jim McDermott echoed these accusations of fear mongering.
The Republicans, who invited Netanyahu to give his speech, have thrown tremendous support behind our ally. “The deal being negotiated today is reminiscent of Munich in 1938,” said Senator Ted Cruz. Another Republican, Senator Kelly Ayotte, called his speech “powerful, persuasive and correct.”
The American people should listen to what the Prime Minister is saying because the sad truth is we simply can’t trust a single word Iran says. Iran is pretty much the North Korea of the Middle East because both of these countries have very controlling governments and don’t take international diplomacy very seriously, constantly taking back their agreements.
Back in 1994, President Clinton pursued the same sort of policy with North Korea that Obama is considering with Iran. Clinton tried to get North Korea to suspend its nuclear energy program in exchange for US aid.
This agreement would fall apart by 2003, and look at North Korea now. According to Business Insider, its nuclear program is flourishing now and will have enough weapons-grade nuclear material for dozens of nuclear warheads by the end of the decade.
History has shown time after time that dictators cannot simply be stopped by negotiations, they have to be stopped by force. Hitler was not stopped after Europe agreed to give him Czechoslovakia; North Korea was not stopped after Clinton agreed to give aid to stop their nuclear program.
Iran is no different. They will stop at nothing to achieve nuclear weapons, and are simply manipulating the US to see what they can get. Netanyahu is not a fear-monger, as the Democrats like to call him, but he simply is the next Churchill or Reagan — a leader that is willing to do and say the tough stuff necessary to save the world from an evil nation.