Obama Drops Iran Sanctions, Nuclear Stockpile Increases 20% [+video]

Photo Credit: Over the past 18 months, Obama has paid Iran $700 million a month to come to the negotiations table and string along the West with promises of dismantling their nuclear program. This may sound like an exaggeration – it’s not. In addition to paying them what will amount to $12 billion in unfrozen assets by the end of June, Obama has ceded half of the Middle East to the Iranian hegemony, including control of critical international waterways, as well as the security of Israel.

So what is the return on Obama’s investment?

Not only has Iran refused to dismantle its program or even allow weapons inspectors on any relevant nuclear sites, a new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reveals that Iranian nuclear fuel stockpiles expanded by 20% since negotiations began in November 2013. You might call this investment the ‘Solyndra of the Middle East,’ except that this is not a joke; it’s an existential threat to global security.

This is the grand lie of the entire negotiations. Proponents of negotiations are giving off the impression that there is no harm in trying to forge a deal and that sanctions will not be lifted unless they abide by the terms of the Joint Plan of Action (JPA) laid out by the P5+1 nations on November 24, 2013. The reality is that Iran has already benefited from a smorgasbord of preliminary sanctions relief for the past 18 months. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose by continuing to blow through deadlines and dragging out these specious negotiations.

It is for this reason that the element of time is so important to Iran, Obama, the phony “Hawkish” Democrats, and AIPAC. The longer they can drag out negotiations the more Iran and Obama benefit, while Senate Democrats and AIPAC can express tacit concern, albeit continue to delay sanctions or any meaningful step to curtail the immoral appeasement of Iran.

There is already a quiet consensus growing among the political class to allow the June 30 deadline to expire without any action. And in fact, the reckless Corker-Cardin bill implicitly blesses a tardy agreement by establishing dates of faux congressional approval well into September.

Well, the time is up and the dangerous negotiations must end now. June 30 was the final promised deadline after failing to meet three other timelines. Unless Iran agrees by June 30 to completely dismantle its nuclear program and allow inspectors at any installation, Republicans must immediately defund negotiations and move to reinstate and strengthen all existing sanctions. Forget about removing additional sanctions.

A Republican Party committed to actually protecting our national security would hold the 10 Democrat sponsors of the Kirk-Menendez sanctions bill accountable for failing to fulfill their promises. The 10 Democrats (Menendez, Schumer, Blumenthal, Peters, Casey, Cardin, Coons, Manchin, Donnelly, and Stabenow) signed onto sanctions well over a year ago, yet continued to allow Obama to negotiate away sanctions relief for terror and miss several deadlines. In January, they committed to voting for the sanctions bill in the event that Iran failed to accede to a preliminary framework on March 24 and a final agreement by June 30.

March 24 has come and gone without an agreed upon a framework, yet nobody has held them accountable. How can Republicans allow them to play ‘Lucy and the Football’ for the 4th time after June 30?

To this day, Rep. Ed Royce (R- CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has not moved a single Iran bill through committee, even though Republicans can easily pass a solid bill out of the chamber with a simple majority and pressure Senate Democrats to fulfill their stated commitments. Why would Democrats and their protectors at AIPAC ever feel the pressure to move off their current double-game of protecting Obama while sounding an alarmed tone on Iran – if Republicans fail to pursue them and make them choose sides once and for all?

In addition to passing standalone bills to hold Democrats accountable, conservatives can use the “State-foreign Ops” appropriations bill to cut off funding for negotiations. They can also use the pending NDAA to force policy changes on Iran.

Time is of the essence. There is no reason we should be paying the Iranians – a regime that killed and incapacitated thousands of our soldiers in Iraq – billions of dollars so they can expand their nuclear stockpiles, grow their military power, and control even greater parts of the Middle East.

In the coming weeks, Republicans will be pushing Obama’s trade deal, the Ex-Im Bank, and a massive highway bill with much alacrity – along with a slew of “suspension bills” on issues nobody even understands. Is it too much to ask that they muster the same urgency about one of the biggest threats to national security? (See “Obama Drops Iran Sanctions, Nuclear Stockpile Increases 20%”, originally posted HERE)

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