Historic Iran Nuclear Deal Today, Even More Historic — and Terrible — Reckoning to Come

We are about to hear plenty of celebratory remarks about the “historic” Iran nuclear deal reached in Vienna.

For those inclined to celebrate, this is supposed to be the big payola, the grand finale of the diplomatic extravaganza that stretched on through half a dozen missed deadlines, across continents, with the American secretary of State finally parking himself for more than two solid weeks at the negotiating table in Vienna — determined to close a deal, whatever concessions that might take.

By President Obama’s calculus, this deal is supposed to mark the moment when the nuclear threat of Iran starts to seriously recede… a proposition akin to his claims in 2012 that the tide of war was receding.  Worse, actually, because we have here the makings of a nuclear arms race, not only in the Middle East, but likely to spill well beyond.

So, yes indeed, this deal is historic. It is historic in ways that, for instance, President Obama’s 2009 chairing of a United Nations Security Council meeting on freeing the world of nuclear weapons was not (does anyone even remember that UN summit? It was the first time an American  president had stooped to chair a meeting of the UN Security Council; it did absolutely nothing to stop nuclear proliferation).

This deal is an historic disaster. Not only does it legitimize Iran’s nuclear program, but it goes far to confer legitimacy on Iran’s regime — the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. For the U.S., it’s a variation of running up massive U.S. government debt, and leaving the next American president — as well as America’s people, and our allies — to face the real cost. Which in this case involves nuclear weapons.

Congress will now get its chance to weigh in. So will the UN Security Council. How those might mesh is a troubling question — we may soon learn more.

For the immediate big picture, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, gave a terrific speech on Monday on the Iran negotiations, addressing an organization called Christians United for Israel. He’s posted it, and it is worth reading in full. He makes a lot of vital points, including his observation that those most immediately endangered by Iran — Israel and America’s Arab allies — were not included at the bargaining table. (Russia and China were there, along with France, Britain, Germany and the U.S.).

There are so many flaws to this deal that even though Dermer lists them in brief, it’s a long list. I’ve culled out a few excerpts, on the next page (boldface mine, on an item that should be of particular interest even to the most tuned-out Americans) …