The state of Israel must survive, and this is not a walk
in the park. Israel is surrounded by noxious Arab powers that long for its
utter destruction, the most ambitious of which is Iran, now on the path to
becoming a nuclear tipped hegemonic power in the Middle East.
Once the enemy of the United States, Iran is a fierce and energetic
enemy of both Israel and the United States, which it regards as “The Great
Satan.” Since the fall of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the country
has become both more Islamic and belligerent. These two, a puritanical reform
of Islam and an increase in theologically inspired violence, seem to walk arm
and arm together in this sorry veil of tears.
A young and dutiful follower of the so-called “sword verse”
in the fifth verse of the ninth sura (Surat at-Tawbah) of the Qur'an
recently executed a priest in his church in Normandy, France, producing a
curious silence among politicians here in the United States who believe there
is no connection between the teachings of Mohammed, blessings be upon him, and
such eruptions of violence and religious fervor.
"Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare ambush for them each. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful"
It may be a slight error to say the Shah of Iran fell; he
was gently pushed out of power during the Presidential administration of Jimmy
Carter, which made straight the way of the Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini, the revolutionist who
ushered in the Islamic Spring that since has served as a lash for the United
States, Israel, much of Europe and the whole of Western civilization, which the
vigorous and expansionist Iranian revolution intends to throw on the ash heap
of history, Allah willing.
Following the arrival of the Ayatollah Khomeini
in Iran, the American Embassy there was
stormed by revolutionists who captured and held hostage 52 American diplomats
and citizens for 444 days until Mr. Carter was deposed by President Ronald
Reagan, whereupon they were released, apparently without large payments being
made to slake the vengeful thirst of Iranian revolutionists.
Mr. Carter said the
hostages were "victims of terrorism and anarchy" and vowed, "The
United States will not yield to blackmail.”
Thirty seven years
later, under the administration of President Barack Obama, Mr. Carter’s view of
both terrorism and blackmail have been revised. The revision, we are now
discovering, occurred in two steps: 1) a massive, secret airlift of cash --
$400 million -- to Iran, and 2) a faux “treaty,” not formally signed by Iran
and not authorized by the U.S. Congress, the terms of which may be
unenforceable.
The $400 million
secretly shipped to Iran “on wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss
francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane,”
we learn from a newly published story in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“The money represented the first installment of a $1.7
billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to
resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the
1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.”
The “advance payment” is, some wide-awake Congresspersons
believe, a ransom paid for the release of Americans being held by Iran. Following the ransom payment, Iran has seized other
Americans, causing at least one U.S. Senator, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas to erupt.
“This break with long-standing U.S. policy,” said Mr. Cotton, “put a price on
the head of Americans, and has led Iran to continue
its illegal seizures” of Americans.
Unlike Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Cotton opposed the private “treaty”
adopted by Mr. Obama and Iranian revolutionists, all of whom no doubt have a
clearer and more utilitarian view of the Qur’an’s ninth sura than does Mr.
Obama, who was exposed to Islam during his formative years.
Mr. Blumenthal signed off,
though not literally, on the broader and private Obama/Hillary Clinton/Iran unsigned
agreement that had been opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a
Churchillian address to the U.S. Congress. Mr. Blumenthal supported the ending
of a successful Iranian embargo because, he said, stronger sanctions could in
the future be applied to Iran if they drifted from the terms of un-treaty never
submitted to him as a U.S. Congressman for authorization.
It therefore seems proper to ask Mr. Blumenthal, a reform
Jew who may have more than a passing interest in the survival of Israel, what
he thinks of the repeal of the Carter doctrine, or the Surat at-Tawbah cited
above that governs Iranian foreign policy, and whether, in view of Iran’s
continuing support of policies and terrorist entities that present an
existential threat to the state of Israel, Mr. Blumenthal does now support the remarks
made before the U.S. Congress by Mr. Netanyahu -- whose
most recent campaign had been undermined by Obama operatives. Will he work to revisit the Obama/Clinton/Iran deal and reinstate sanctions? At the very least,
should not the arrangements approved in secret negotiations between Iran and
Mr. Obama operatives be submitted to the U.S. Congress and approved by a body
constitutionally authorized to oversee TREATIES – which is what binding
arrangements between the President and foreign powers are?
The silence maintained by Mr. Blumenthal, U.S. Senator Chris
Murphy and the remaining five members of Connecticut’s U.S. Congressional
Delegation is deafening, and their cowardice appalling.
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