Friday, July 31, 2015

Where Do We Go From Here?


July 29, 2015

The purpose of this article is not to convince the reader that the Iranian nuclear agreement is a bad deal. It assumes that the reader is familiar with the terms of the agreement and has reached such a conclusion on his or her own. Rather, the purpose of this article is to assess where we go from here given the predicament we are in. Unavoidably, I will discuss bad points of the deal below. In addition, while this article is meant more for American Jews and Israel, their best interests in this case are aligned with those of all Americans.

Any ideas intended to prevent this deal from becoming the reality are welcome. I do not profess to have a definitive solution and am not in any way being critical of any such efforts. In fact, as I discuss below, I believe Jewish groups should unite and encourage and evaluate any and all ideas, plans of action and potential solutions.

I do believe that the immediate focus should be on the upcoming Congressional action on the deal. Congress will vote to either approve or reject the deal by September. Despite some claims to the contrary, all is not lost, at least not yet. Congress must repudiate the deal and, as a separate branch of government, can be quite effective in curbing many of the benefits Iran stands to gain from the deal. As such, Congressmen and women must be urged and persuaded to vote against the deal. And they must be urged and action needs to be taken now.

A rally was held in Times Square on July 22nd for just that purpose. The rally drew over 10,000 people and had many effective speakers. But how far did it reach? Did it reach the non-Jewish audience? Did it have lasting effects? Where do we go from here?

What if we build off that event and have a rally that appeals to a far larger audience? The idea is to use Madison Square Garden, "The World's Most Famous Arena", to stage a rally. This would not be the first time Jews will have used that venue in a time of crisis. American Jews staged protests against Nazi Germany from the old Madison Square Garden in the 1930's. This time, we must demand that we be heard. I would like to believe that the pro-Israel news network, Fox News, would broadcast a rally live nationally (and internationally), which would allow for an extraordinary reach. Think of the powerful and influential speakers this would draw--religious leaders of all faiths, experts on the deal, presidential candidates, Congressmen and women, holocaust survivors, journalists and businessmen, among others. The message would be addressed to all Americans, not only American Jews.

Importantly, the rally would educate the entire country on the deal, with all of its flaws, and the nature of the Iranian regime and its fanatical religious beliefs, including those related to the End of Days. The American people should decide if they want a deal that sets the terrorist regime in Iran on a path to legitimately obtain nuclear weapons in a decade while being funded with over $150 billion well before then. And that is the best case scenario. It assumes, rather naively, that Iran will not cheat and break the deal. The myths about snap inspections and snap-back sanctions would be obliterated. The dangers, including to the United States, of removing sanctions on conventional arms and intercontinental ballistic weapons would be explained. The united front of the P5+1, consisting of such wonderful U.S. allies of Russia and China, would be exposed for the farce that it is. Speakers will explain how and why President Obama chose to have the deal approved in the U.N. before going to the U.S. Congress and how European countries are already lining up to do business in Iran, prior to Congressional action. The speakers would remind Americans that in America we care what Congress has to say, not the U.N. The rally would need to spotlight influential speakers from states with Congressmen and women who are undecided on their vote or who have indicated that they support the deal.

Perhaps most compelling would be a short but very revealing video which demonstrates the extent of the capitulation by Obama, Kerry and the rest of the Administration. The best and most effective part of this video would be the lies, inconsistencies and deception demonstrated by the actions and words of these very people, particularly Obama. This most of all could stir Americans to pressure their Congressmen and women.

Irrespective of whether the rally takes place, Americans should be flooding the phone and email lines of their Congressmen and women urging them to kill the deal, with organized groups applying pressure to those Congressmen and women who have indicated that their vote is at all in doubt or that they support the deal. American Jews need to start the great migration away from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Today's Democrats are subservient to Obama and the Party is far-left. Any party on the far end of the political spectrum is dangerous. It is time Jews came to terms with this and recognize the overwhelming support Israel receives today from Republicans. This is true of most of the current Republican presidential candidates. American Jews will have to determine whether the safety and security of Israel, and even of themselves and their families in America, outweighs their social agenda. Now is the time for such introspection and reflection. Even if Congress does approve the agreement with Iran, the next president will have leeway, as the Congress does now, to kill the deal.

Much has been made over the last few days regarding presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's comments about the deal and it potentially leading to the next holocaust. This is an accurate assessment of the potential risk. It is Mr. Huckabee's belief and is shared by many. He has long supported Israel. American Jews should understand this for what it is--a nuclear-armed Iran presents an existential threat to Israel and this agreement with Iran assures that it will be able to obtain nuclear weapons over time, while being funded to do so by the international community. One need only listen to the words and threats of Iran's supreme leader. Mr. Huckabee's candor is preferable to the deceit of the Jewish Chair of the Democratic National Committee and Florida Representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who tries to convince others to ignore the potential disaster. If Ms. Schultz and other liberals feigning outrage over Mr. Huckabee's holocaust comments, made on behalf of Israel and Jews, cannot really see the potential for another holocaust, G-d forbid, they are in need of some serious education on the subject. It is interesting that they choose to take issue with Mr. Huckabee's comments made on behalf of Israel and Jews, but ignore the death threats made by Iranian leaders against America and Israel. If Mr. Huckabee is wrong, then he may have used words that some people did not appreciate. But if Obama, Kerry and Wasserman-Shultz are wrong, heaven help not just Israel, but America as well.

If none of these measures are effective, Israel still has a military option. Do not be fooled by the rhetoric that it does not. It just has to be willing to use any means necessary to defend itself. And faced with another holocaust, it will have no choice but to do so. The question will be when will it feel it necessary to have to do so. If it is forced into making this decision, Israel will need to have an American president who truly has its back, not to mention the united support of its fellow Jews.

American and world Jewish groups should be coming together now in an effort to have Congress kill the deal and to support Israel. Obama and his Administration are all too quick to point to radical liberal American Jewish groups as the voice of all Jews. AIPAC is not the only American Jewish organization that wants to kill the deal and it should not have to go it alone. Jews need to vanquish the liberal American Jewish groups and unite now in a powerful front. A think tank should be formed from this united structure to come up with the best ideas, plans and potential solutions. And if the effort to kill the deal fails, we need to be prepared to support Israel in taking any actions necessary to protect itself. Any such actions by Israel will make America safer in the long run too. The American public needs to be educated on this and needs to understand what a deal with the radical Islamic clerics in Iran really means to America, Israel and the entire world. 

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