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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – For those with long memories, let’s go back to 2016.
Then-president Barack Obama’s strategy was to negotiate to slow down Iran’s nuclear program. For a ten year period, Iran would be allowed to enrich uranium… but not to weapons grade. They would be subject to international monitoring. After ten years, it was hoped, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be dead, and there would be more moderate and reasonable leadership in Iran that would not pursue nuclear weapons.
Today, let’s review how that worked out. The robust Ayatollah indeed lived another decade until Israel dropped a bomb on his head last weekend. International inspections? Never happened. Iran turned off the cameras. Moderate voices in Iran? None emerged. The leadership that ruled with Khamenei were fine with slaughtering their own people for protesting when the economy collapsed. Let us not forget the $1.7-billion in cash that was loaded onto a palette and dropped onto an airport runway in Tehran. Imagine how much Iranian-proxy terrorism that funded across the Middle East.
Joe Biden tried to get Iran back into a move-slow nuclear agreement, and freed up until-then frozen Iranian assets.
Now remember, the ten year framework that Obama proposed would have come to an end this year or next. Right now the centrifuges would have been spinning. Iran would be a nuclear power at any time.
This morning we may thank God for Donald Trump’s clarity. Iran cannot, ever, have nuclear weapons. His negotiation strategy was clear. The only acceptable endgame was giving up uranium enrichment, and, oh yes, the long range missile program too.
No, we don’t know how the conflict with Iran will play out. But we do know that they are out of the nukes business. And it could not be more clear whose strategy was right.
Chris Conley
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