Going South

As those of us who vehemently opposed Barack Obama's nuclear "deal" with Iran predicted, bad things have already begun to happen. Part of the idiocy was to give Iran $100+ billion in sanctions relief before Iran even had to demonstrate that it was abiding by the agreement (it will NOT abide by the agreement). It was obvious to anyone whose world view is based on reality as opposed to fantasy that Iran would use the new found money to foment trouble in the region. It has already begun to happen.

Richard Fernandez reports:

Suddenly Obama’s partners for peace are going out of their way to treat him like a nobody in the most insulting way. Reuters reports that “Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday banned any further negotiations between Iran and the United States”. This only weeks after receiving $100 billion dollars from the One and Iran won’t even take his call. To add insult to injury, Gen. John Campbell, commander of US forces in Afghanistan told the Senate that Tehran is arming the Taliban. Foreign Policy says that Iran has supplied Hezbollah with SA-22 SAMs and Yakhont surface-to-surface precision land attack missiles. A hundred billion doesn’t buy much gratitude these days. Iran couldn’t express their contempt more clearly if they took out a full page ad in the Washington Post.

Gee, I wonder what Hezballah is going to do with all of those missiles? Of course, Israel has no need to worry because Barack Obama "has their back." After all, this president has shown enormous strength and will in defending our allies in the Middle East, hasn't he? For example, a few days ago Obama's spokesman noted that Israel and the palestinians are equally responsible for the current violence, as palestinian youths walk up to civilians on the street and stab them. Can anyone say, "Delusional moral equivalence." The administration spokesman also had the gall to suggest that both sides are "terrorists." Yeah, Obama has Israel's back ... sure he does.

It's been less than 90 days since the Iran "deal" was signed and things are going south fast. Iran is only just beginning its demonic march toward regional hegemony.

UPDATE:
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And this from the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal:

President Obama and his foreign-policy admirers—a dwindling lot—hoped that the nuclear deal would make Iran more open to cooperation in the Middle East and with the U.S. Mark this down as another case in which the world is disappointing the American President.

Iran’s judiciary on Monday announced that Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent, has been convicted. He was on trial for “espionage.” Security forces arrested Mr. Rezaian and his wife, journalist Yeganeh Salehi, in July 2014. Ms. Salehi was later released, but the regime has held Mr. Rezaian “in a black hole for 14 months,” as his brother, Ali, told us. Mr. Rezaian, a U.S. citizen, has been denied even the basic rights the regime sometimes affords political prisoners, including bail and phone calls.

The timing of the conviction won’t escape students of history. Friday was the 444th day of his captivity. That was the number of days U.S. diplomats in Iran spent as hostages following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Mr. Rezaian’s conviction three days later is the mullah equivalent of mailing a dead fish to an adversary.

Mr. Rezaian’s brother also told us that “I’d like the U.S. government to say [about Jason’s detention]: This kind of behavior has consequences. Up to now this has had no consequences. What have been the consequences? It hasn’t stopped them from getting their nuclear deal. And it hasn’t stopped them from getting over half a billion a month in sanctions relief since we started talking to them.”

If you are to believe Obama's defenders (there are fewer and fewer as the weeks pass), this is all part of some opaque strategy, and Iran will make nicey-nice down the road. That's not a strategy, that's fantasy. Sadly, seven years in, that's about all we can expect from this administration.