America's incomprehensible conduct

Dr. Haim Shine

The incomprehensible, and borderline delusional, conduct of the American government vis-à-vis the Iranian nuclear program takes us back to an interview that then-U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull gave to Time magazine in April 1933. In that interview, Hull claimed that Germany's bad attitude toward Jews had been largely eliminated. But in the years that followed, it turned out that this was not the case, and it was the Jews who were eliminated by Germany.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are now, like Hull back then, shutting their eyes to the dangers of the world and closing their ears to the thunderous drums of war. It appears that all they care about is achieving a historical "legacy" -- via a nuclear deal with Iran and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Fortunately for Obama and Kerry, they will not have to answer for their recklessness, negligence and blindness. By the time the consequences of their actions become clear, they will be private citizens. American history books will tell the tale of the country's first black president, who at first inspired great, almost messianic, hope, but ultimately left behind a tired and broken nation unable to differentiate between good and bad, or right and wrong.

Every wise person knows the Iranians will not live up to what they pledge regarding their nuclear program. All Iranian "compromises" on this matter, which will be applauded by world powers, will be based on a total lie. All means, including lies and deception, are viewed as permissible by Iran in its quest to fulfill its dream of establishing a caliphate, which the possession of nuclear weapons would help bring about.

World powers will never be able to truly monitor the progress of Iran's nuclear program. And any intelligence gathered by Saudi Arabia or Israel about Iranian violations of a nuclear deal would likely not convince world powers, who do not have the will or determination to use force against Iran.

It is now clear how right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to call on the world to prevent a rogue terror state from obtaining nuclear weapons. If only the West was to maintain, and perhaps bolster, the sanctions on Iran for a little while longer, Iran would come crawling on its knees to an agreement. But unfortunately, it is the West which is now crawling on its knees. If Obama was to wake up at the last moment and end this madness, the citizens of the world would thank him.

This is not the first time in history in which the Jews have had to stand alone against the ultimate evil. Pharaoh was the first we had to deal with, and many others followed him. But now, thanks to the Israel Defense Forces, we have the military strength not just to survive, but also to stand up to evil and defeat it. There is no doubt that, at the moment of truth, a determined Israel will know how to deal with the threat.

The closing of the Straits of Tiran in 1967 led to the outbreak of the Six-Day War, from which Israel emerged victorious. It may be that the current struggle for control the Bab-el-Mandeb strait off the coast of Yemen represents the opening of a war over the identity of the new-old Middle East. "And God shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God will blow the horn, and will go with whirlwinds of the south" (Zechariah 9:14).