Iran Deal “The Best We Can Get”… When Obama’s in Charge
The standard liberal-internationalist response to criticism of the Iranian nuclear deal is that it’s “the best that we could get.”
To some extent, this is accurate. This might very well be the best, or close to it, we could have gotten – under this administration. The problem is there has never been a serious threat of military action from the Obama Administration.
A negotiation of this type depends on a real threat of military action. The situation presented to the Iranians is this: reach a deal with us now, or face a sustained bombing campaign against all your nuclear facilities by the United States and its regional allies. Faced with that situation, the obvious rational route for Ayatollah Khamenei and President Rouhani is to negotiate. After all, the entire purpose of obtaining a nuclear weapon is to discourage war. If pursuit of a nuclear weapon leads to war, then the entire project was in vain.
The problem is, nobody in Iran – or in the United States, for that matter – believes that Obama is giving serious consideration to an airstrike on Iran. It’s clear he wants to leave the legacy of being a peacemaker, and that certainly wouldn’t happen if he launched airstrikes on Iran. That means that instead of the Iranians being faced with either a war and continued sanctions or a peaceful settlement, they are faced with either a peaceful settlement or just continued sanctions. That’s far less compelling than the threat of war.
So it is in some sense a fallacy to state this is the best deal we could have gotten. If we had in office someone more hawkish there would be far more pressure on the Iranian government to reach a peaceful deal. The threat of war is necessary to pressure a state into abandoning its nuclear weapons program, because if a war were to occur, the pursuit of nuclear arms caused the very thing it was designed to prevent. Faced with that choice, Ayatollah Khamenei’s only rational course of action would be to abandon the program and reach a deal; a deal that would be far better for the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
Trending Now on Affluent Christian Investor
Sorry. No data so far.
The Affluent Mix
Biden Oblivious To Illegal Immigration Issues... August 2, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Rob Arnott On Bubbles, Inflation, And Once-In-A-Generation Investment Opportunit... August 2, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

The Federal Reserve’s Massive Theft Of Stability... August 2, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

What To Do About This Difficult Market? August 2, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Letter On The Politicization Of Corporations... July 26, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Peak Of The Fake Bull Market July 26, 2021 | Michael Pento

Woodrow Wilson’s Administrative State vs. Gold... July 26, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Dividends, Energy, And Crypto July 26, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Whose Side Are You On? July 26, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Media, Left Ignore These Dangers July 19, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Mark Skousen On FreedomFest And How To Measure The Whole Economy... July 19, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Quantifying The Quantitative, Or Making Easy The Easing... July 19, 2021 | David Bahnsen

The Gold Standard Means A Rising Standard Of Living... July 19, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

Book Review: Brian Domitrovic Reveals The Monetary Genius Of Arthur Laffer... July 19, 2021 | John Tamny

Steve Forbes: Time To Worry About Inflation, Not Hyperinflation... July 12, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

UFOs Rescue Biden July 12, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

Read This Classical Economist’s 200 Year Old Warning About Paper Money... July 12, 2021 | Jim Huntzinger

How Central Banks Murdered The Markets July 12, 2021 | Michael Pento

Everything There Is To Know About The Stock Market... July 12, 2021 | David Bahnsen

AT&T CEO: We’re Ill Equipped For Politics, And We’re Spending A Lot Of ... July 6, 2021 | Jerry Bowyer

Internet Bias Distorts National Conversation... July 6, 2021 | Frank Vernuccio

The Halfway Point Of 2021 July 6, 2021 | David Bahnsen

Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.