Top lawmaker: How low is Obama willing to bow to Iranian demands?
A New York Times news story written by reporter David Samuels that gave the White House’s Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes a forum in which to brag about his smarts, he allowed the truth to slip out: “a carefully crafted campaign to misrepresent the background of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and 6 major Western powers was deliberately executed to smooth the way for the US to disengage from Middle Eastern affairs.” In other words, the GOP lawmakers were right: Obama, Kerry and Clinton lied to the American people about the Iranian nuclear agreement.
After receiving news that the Obama Administration had whipped Democrats to vote against the entire FY’17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) if an amendment added to the bill by Congressman Trent Franks, R-Arizona — which would prevent the United States from purchasing heavy water from Iran — remained included in the legislation, Congressman Franks delivered the following statement as he withdrew the arguably commonsense amendment to such an important bill as NDAA:
“Before the ink was dry on the Iran Deal, the Saudis began making a deal with Russia and China to develop 16 nuclear reactors. And Russia is now brokering a deal with Egypt to build four more nuclear reactors. Thanks to the Obama Administration, nuclear proliferation in the Middle East has begun.
“And now we have just been told that President Obama and his crack team of “expert negotiators” plan to prop up and further exacerbate this preposterous farce they call the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by paying Iran millions of dollars to purchase heavy water and thereby [sic] incentivizing Tehran to produce more heavy water which is a key component in their quest to develop nuclear warheads.
“We have all just recently watched in real time as Iran has blatantly violated UN Security Council Resolutions with their ballistic missile tests – the President’s own State Department admits their missile launches put them at odds with international law. And yet on April Fool’s Day this year, President Obama criticized the Iranian leaders for undermining the “spirit” of the Nuclear Deal even as they stick to the “letter” of the pact.
“Mr. Chairman, if Iran can conduct ballistic missile tests and produce heavy water under the President’s deal without violating the “letter” of the law, what can’t they do? And what further betrayal of America and human freedom is the Obama Administration willing to embrace to capitulate to Iran and their inexorable march the nuclear weapons?
“Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, I am told that Mr. Obama intends to finalize this heavy water purchase before this amendment can take effect and that Democrats have promised to kill the entire defense bill if a vote is taken.
“So to protect what’s left of our National Security from the Obama Administration, I will withdraw the amendment.”
In addition, the Obama Administration continues to ignore the growing, existential threat posed by Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) technology in the hands of a terrorist enemy such as Iran and ISIS or in the hands of a more conventionally armed but equally psychotic North Korea, and in light of the Senate Democrats’ continued intransigence in blocking important Homeland Security legislation, it is incumbent upon the United States Congress to double-down on proven missile defense technology, according to Franks.
“Although the U.S. electric grid could be completely hardened with a minimal investment, the inertia of Washington’s notorious bureaucracy remains a constant foe to meaningful reforms and protections. While Democrats in the Senate block EMP legislation in an election year, Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran have already incorporated utilizing an EMP attack into their military doctrines, and have openly detailed making EMP attacks against the United States,” Franks stated.
“Additionally, rogue states and terrorists could use nearly any missile to deliver a small nuclear warhead to effectively launch a catastrophic EMP attack on the U.S. power grid. Iran, for instance, has practiced ship-launched EMP attacks using Scud missiles. It seems the U.S. is the only world actor not aware of what a low-capital/high-reward investment an EMP attack is against our Homeland,” added the veteran lawmaker.
According to a previous Franks blog entry, Obama and his “faculty lounge advisors” spent seven years dismantling U.S. Missile Defense capabilities, using the President’s post-election “increased flexibility” to: scrap our Phase 4 missile defense plans in Poland (Russian reset), side-step Congress to foolishly sign an agreement leaving Iran completely free to develop their ballistic missile fleet, and asking for “strategic patience” with North Korea rather than more strategically placed missile interceptors.
“On every front, the Obama Administration has embraced a 1970s détente attitude towards Missile Defense – the very attitude which prolonged the misery of those living under the jackbooted heel of Soviet totalitarianism, he wrote last month.
