“O magnify Yahweh with me, and let us exalt His Name together.” Psalm 34: 3
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Armin Rosen—2 red flags that undercut Obama’s idea of success in the Iran nuclear deal:
Iran and a US-led group of nations have signed a framework agreement determining limits on Iran’s nuclear program, with a final deal to be negotiated and signed before June 30.
It’s a major diplomatic breakthrough with vast implications for nuclear nonproliferation, Middle Eastern politics, and American foreign policy.
But there’s one critical issue: The Obama administration’s rubric for success is to implement a set of safeguards and limits that would prevent Iran from being able to assemble a single nuclear warhead in less than one year.
“This deal was not based on trust,” President Obama said after the framework agreement was announced. “It’s based on unprecedented verification.”
The problem is that it is far from clear whether that standard has actually been met under the latest framework agreement.
About an hour after the deal was signed, Business Insider spoke with Thomas Moore, a longtime nonproliferation expert for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said the verification regime outlined in the deal could leave plenty of unanswered questions as to Tehran’s actual nuclear infrastructure and capabilities.
He sees two red flags with the agreement: First, the agreement actually lessens Iran’s obligations under the Additional Protocols of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Second, it allows Iran to engage in nuclear activities — like stockpiling low-enriched uranium and operating a plutonium reactor — that have no civilian necessity.
Both of these undercut Obama’s standard for success.
[…]
To continue reading, click here.
SnyderTalk Comment: There are many red flags in the Iran deal that Obama has proposed. Zeroing in on two of them is helpful but far from exhaustive.
That said, from Israel’s perspective, any deal with Iran that is based on trusting the U.S. to come to Israel’s aid in case of an emergency should be unacceptable. Obama has taught us that much.
But let’s put aside Obama for purposes of this argument. Israel shouldn’t place herself at the mercy of the U.S. political system, period.
Who knows what some future president might do, and we all know how ineffective Congress is.
As I tell my friends in Israel, don’t trust the U.S. to be your protector. Only Yahweh can protect you.
Learning to trust Yahweh requires faith and experience. Israel has the experience, but does her faith pass the test?
One day it will. Is today the day? Maybe. I hope so.
See “Netanyahu: Any final Iran deal must include recognition of Israel’s right to exist” and “Obama: Netanyahu ‘misjudged’ in demanding Iran recognize Israel as part of nuclear deal”.
Obama misjudged. He doesn’t get it yet. Obama is exposing Israel to great risk. He’s like Balaam on steroids.
Also see “Netanyahu Asks Why Iran Deal Ignores Nuclear Missile Program”.
Very good question. The nuclear missile program problem alone is enough to scuttle the deal.
The Israeli people have good sense. Leaning on Obama’s pledge or the U.S. under Obama and the Democratic Party is worse than leaning against a limp reed. Thankfully, the Israeli people realize it.
Also see “Delegates from Middle East, Muslim world to convene in Israel for nuclear conference”.
It’s not just Israel’s problem, and it’s serious enough for Israel and her Muslim neighbors to meet about it.
I have a hunch that they didn’t seek Obama’s approval before deciding to convene. He may have learned about it in the news—the same way he says that he has learned about all the scandals in his administration.
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SnyderTalk Comment: Parts of this are accurate and parts are inaccurate. Still, not all Muslims are crazy fanatics. It’s up to Yahweh to show them the truth. Some of them will come to know Him.
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Ehud Barak: Iran Has Escaped a Noose—The common perception across the Middle East is that America negotiated not out of strength but out of an appetite to obtain a deal. This by itself allowed Iran an advantage in the negotiations, and that advantage has been enhanced by the announcement of an agreement. Making a deal with the U.S. – one that allows Iran’s leadership to announce relief from all sanctions without shuttering a single nuclear facility – surely strengthens the Iranians, and that bodes ill from Iran in other arenas. President Obama does our side no favor by arguing that a strike will ignite another Middle East war. A surgical strike on key nuclear facilities in Iran can throw them five years backward, and a repetition would become a major Iranian worry. The possibility should not be rhetorically holstered. It may be the only language Iran understands.
Michael Morell: Iran’s Grand Strategy Is to Become a Regional Powerhouse— One of the interesting aspects of international affairs is that states and nonstate actors will occasionally say publicly exactly what they are thinking, doing and planning to do. No need for spies, no need for diplomats — just a need to listen. In the mid-1990s, Osama bin Laden said repeatedly that he saw the United States as his most important enemy and therefore as his key target. Bin Laden delivered on these warnings in August 1998 in East Africa, in October 2000 in Yemen and in September 2001 in New York and Washington. In a hotly contested election campaign in early 1998, India’s Bharatiya Janata Party told voters in its platform that, if elected, it would openly deploy nuclear weapons. Once the BJP was in office, analysts played down the nuclear plank as campaign rhetoric. They were proved wrong in May 1998 when India conducted multiple underground nuclear tests, becoming a declared nuclear weapons state.
SnyderTalk Comment: Being a regional powerhouse is just the hors d’oeuvre. The entrée is more ambitious.
Michael B. Oren: The Iran Deal: How Not to Negotiate in the Middle East—In reaching the parameters agreement, international negotiators were worn down by the protracted talks. They were persuaded by Iran’s displays of warmth and earnestness, and accepted its claim that the nuclear program was a matter of national pride similar to America’s moon landing. Most damagingly, the P5+1 recognized the Islamic Republic’s right to enrich and to maintain its nuclear facilities. Instead of telling the Iranians that “if you don’t take this offer, our next one will be smaller,” the P5+1 said, “If you don’t like these terms, perhaps we can improve them.” Rather than responding to Iranian intransigence with heightened sanctions and credible military force, negotiators removed these options. The U.S. and its P5+1 partners must reject any further Iranian demands. They should make clear to Tehran that it risks losing the gains it has made while facing punitive measures such as ramped-up sanctions. They must be prepared to walk way.
Elliott Abrams: ‘Messing’ with Israel— In his lengthy interview with Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, President Obama makes many statements about Israel’s security and how the proposed deal with Iran enhances it. These words from the interview are key: “I have to respect the fears that the Israeli people have,” he added, “and I understand that Prime Minister Netanyahu is expressing the deep-rooted concerns that a lot of the Israeli population feel about this, but what I can say to them is: Number one, this is our best bet by far to make sure Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, and number two, what we will be doing even as we enter into this deal is sending a very clear message to the Iranians and to the entire region that if anybody messes with Israel, America will be there.”
Ben Cohen: A New Age of Middle East Insecurity— Back in 2010, I interviewed Gerard Araud, who is now the French ambassador in Washington, DC, while he was still serving as France’s envoy to the United Nations in New York. We talked at length about Iran, and this was the first thing he told me: “The Iranian nuclear program has no civilian explanation whatsoever. You don’t start a civilian nuclear program by enriching uranium. It’s like if you buy the gas before the car.” On April 2, Iran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) world powers, announced that a framework deal on Iran’s nuclear program has been reached. In the days prior, as I watched the Iran nuclear negotiations in the Swiss city of Lausanne slide past an agreed deadline of midnight on March 31 into, appropriately, April Fools’ Day, it struck me that nothing had changed since Araud—who remains a trenchant critic of American concessions to Iran—uttered those words five years ago. The Iranian nuclear program was never about the civilian use of nuclear energy. It was, and remains, geared towards the production of a nuclear weapon—hence all the lies and deceit practiced by the Iranian regime over more than a decade, and hence the succession of UN Security Council resolutions and anxious International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports underlining how Iran’s nuclear activities do not comport with those associated with a civilian program.
Michael Tuchfeld: Between North Korea and Iran— One day in October 2013, researchers at Johns Hopkins University’s U.S.-Korea Institute who were examining satellite images of the North Korean Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center saw vapor rising and water flowing out from the reactor’s cooling system — a sign that the reactor was, suddenly, in operation. The reactor, which produced plutonium for nuclear bombs, was closed following a February 2007 deal with six world powers, after the United States agreed to unfreeze $25 million in North Korean bank accounts and to provide food shipments. The reactor’s cooling tower was dismantled over several months, and the process was broadcast on international television. The United States was praised for the accomplishment, and the president declared that the efforts to stop the North Korean nuclear program had borne fruit.
Amir Taheri: France, the West and the Islamist Challenge— Even in poor countries that become breeding grounds for Islamic terror, the funds needed always come from richer Muslim nations. What we are facing is not a revolt of the poor. What matters is what you are taught, where and by whom and for what purpose. Many jihadists are taught a vision of the world and the place of Islam in it that is bound to lead to conflict, violence, terror and ultimately war. Non-Western cultures have no doubt that they are the best… it is only Western civilization that regards self-criticism as an almost sacred duty. In a civilization built on critical, and self-critical, thinking, we are invited to practice censorship and self-censorship. If danger there is, it comes from those who wish to silence such voices in the name of multiculturalism and “respect for the other.” The adepts of political correctness in the West measure everyone’s worth with the degree of his or her victimhood. The problem was misguided Islamophilia not bigoted Islamophobia. Islamophilia is often mixed with anti-Americanism, blaming America for whatever goes wrong under the sun. The Imperialism of guilt blames the West, especially America, for everything, and denies “the other” any credit, even for his own mistakes. Every year a group of Americans travels to Jerusalem to meet Arabs and apologize to them for “the Crusades.” The fact that at the time of the Crusades the U.S. did not even exist is conveniently forgotten, as is that Arabs at best played second fiddle in the Crusades, which was mostly the affair of Turks, Kurds and Mamelukes.
J.J. Goldberg: How Bibi and Bush Made a Mess of the Middle East—By now it’s become a Washington cliché: Barack Obama stumbling cluelessly through a Middle East in flames. He’s leading from behind, surrendering to Iran, withdrawing from the world, pivoting to Asia. He tried to disengage from Middle East entanglements, but the region sucked us back in. Or did it? Here the cliché gets muddled. In one version, we’ve abandoned longtime allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia, who are left to battle the Iranian threat alone. In another version, we’re fighting on too many fronts — Iraq, Syria, Yemen — with no clear idea who’s the enemy. We’re fighting alongside Sunni Saudi Arabia against Shiite Iran’s proxies in Yemen. We’re fighting alongside Shiite Iran against Sunni ISIS in Iraq. We’re supporting Syrian rebels battling against both ISIS and Iran’s Syrian proxy, the Assad regime. Meanwhile we’re jawboning in Switzerland to make Iran eliminate half its centrifuges. And keep half.
Amos Yadlin: The Iranian Nuclear Parameters—The agreement reached in Lausanne is a problematic compromise – one that reflects the U.S. eagerness to reach an agreement for fear of the failure to reach an agreement, the fear of war, or fear that the other powers would not join in another round of sanctions. Iran came to these negotiations seeking to have the sanctions that have hurt Iran’s energy and finance sectors significantly lifted immediately. The Iranians have understood the U.S. desire to reach an agreement, which is why Iran was able to drive a harder bargain than the powers. The U.S. should clarify that the emerging nuclear agreement does not give Iran a green light to continue with subversion and terrorism – and should back this with decisive, resolute action against Iran on all fronts in which Iran operates across the Middle East. The U.S. should remain committed to sanctions imposed on Iran regarding Tehran’s involvement in terrorism, weapons shipments, abuse of human rights, and missile development and proliferation.
Dore Gold: The Flawed Underpinnings of the New Nuclear Understandings with Iran—Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif boasted, after the understandings were announced, that Iran did not have to close down a single nuclear facility, it will continue to engage in uranium enrichment, and it can engage in research and development (meaning it can develop new generations of centrifuges that operate 10 or 20 times faster). And while Iran holds on to this nuclear complex, Western sanctions on the Iranian economy will be removed and Tehran will be awash with cash to support its expansionism into Middle Eastern countries, its missile programs which are not covered by the agreement, and its global backing of terrorism. Iranian expansionism at present is the best window into Iranian intent. If Iran sees itself as a new imperial power, taking over its neighbors, then what are the chances that its leadership will remain a nuclear threshold state? The chances are close to zero. They will cross the threshold and go for a bomb.
Ron Ben-Yishai: In Wake of Iran Deal, Time for U.S.-Israel Dialogue—It is time for Israel to undergo intensive dialogue with the U.S. to neutralize the dangerous aspects of the agreement between the world powers and Iran. And there are quite a few. Israel should seek coordination on the actions that the U.S. and Israel will take should Iran violate the terms of the agreement. In addition, Israel must receive a commitment from the U.S. to prevent the military nuclearization of other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt. Even if these understandings are secret, they have great value. If, for example, the U.S. agrees in advance with Israel on joint intelligence estimates and joint diagnosis of violations of the agreement by Iran, and if the U.S. promises Israel that it will not oppose military action on its part if Iran makes a break for the bomb, Israel will have some security and a safety net in light of the nuclear deal being formulated with Iran. This will avoid disputes with the U.S. on whether Iran was in violation or not. One thing Israel cannot accept is Obama’s offer to defend it if attacked. Israel should adhere to the stance set by David Ben-Gurion that Israel defends itself by itself, and does not become the client state of a foreign patron.
Eyal Zisser: How Hizbullah and Hamas Benefit from Iran Deal—It is not only the Iranians who will enjoy the economic benefits Iran stands to garner from the deal, but also Hizbullah and Hamas operatives, whose paychecks and equipment come directly from the Iranian pocket. The Iran-U.S. deal has cemented Iran’s position as a legitimate regional power. Tehran has always coveted this position, which entails the expansion of Iran’s influence to include what it considers its “security belt,” that spans from Iran to Lebanon, Gaza and even Israel.
Peter Brookes: Iran Deal Leaves Security Fears—There’s a very good chance this deal will not be finalized, considering the devilish details that need to negotiated by the next deadline, the end of June. This includes the pace of economic sanctions relief, nuclear R&D limitations, possible military dimensions questions, establishing benchmarks (e.g., nuclear stockpiles), and the need for intrusive challenge inspections to support verification during implementation. Some have insisted that the only other policy option to the framework as currently proposed is war – so take it or leave it. While the either/or argument sounds compelling, it’s a misleading and false narrative. There are plenty of policy options between war and this agreement that potentially would have driven a better deal.
Kendall Breitman: An agreement to agree, except maybe not—President Barack Obama is rejecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for Iran to recognize the state of Israel as part of a final nuclear deal. “The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms. And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment,” Obama said in an interview with NPR on Monday. On Friday, Netanyahu, a vocal critic of the Iranian nuclear talks, said that a nuclear deal with Iran must include “unambiguous Iranian recognition of Israel’s right to exist.” The Obama administration announced that the U.S., Iran and other world powers had reached a preliminary ‘framework’ agreement on Thursday.
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Steinitz: Iran deal won’t provide insurance for even a year unless loopholes closed
Analysis: Can Iran deal link sanctions relief to compliance on military nuclear work?
‘We monitor distant vessels to prevent attacks on Eilat’
CIA head says critics of Iran nuclear deal ‘disingenuous’
US rabbi wants to hold Holocaust commemoration in Ramallah
Obama warns of ‘zero’ breakout time without nuclear deal
Weed growers in Tel Aviv – take your pot off the balcony!
FIFA head rejects Palestinian call to ban Israel
Arab League backs push for UNSC resolution to end Israeli ‘occupation’
Palestinians attempting to fast track war crimes suits against Israel at ICC
Together in Tehran, Erdogan and Rouhani call for end to bloodshed in Yemen
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Anti-Assad Syrian Activist Shot Dead in London
Would a Modern Death Penalty be Kosher for Israel?
Polish Jewish Community Grows in Shadows of History
Israel is the Most Important Gift to the Community of Nations
John Kerry’s Messianic Complex
Four Easy Steps to Ending the Middle East Conflict
Hiker Dies Falling off Cliff in Judean Desert
Why Was Chametz Sold at the Main J’lem Gates?
Haredi Workers Face Discrimination
California State Representative Visits Shomron
Israel Confirms IDF Fire Killed Spanish Soldier
Gaza Terrorists Boost Rocket Research For Next War
More IDF Soldiers Requesting Post as Lookout
‘I Lay Injured with My Hand on the Grenade Pin’
Syria Offers Palestinians Military Aid in Yarmouk
Erdogan Visits Rouhani, Vows Doubling of Trade
ISIS Seizure of Yarmouk ‘Harms Right of Return’
Iraqi Forces Still Battling ISIS in Tikrit
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US, Iran publicly at odds over 6 key aspects of nuke deal, Israeli expert finds
Iranian FM reportedly says ‘no cameras’ in nuke sites after deal
Obama admits: Deal will give Iran ‘near zero’ breakout time in 13 years
Ex-IAEA deputy: Deal puts Iran on nuke threshold for 10 years, then gets worse
Obama rejects linking Israel recognition to nuclear deal
J Street applauds Obama for Iran nuke deal
Top Obama adviser dismisses idea that better Iran deal is possible
White House courts outside help in selling nuke deal
Ya’alon: Iran deal ‘a historic mistake,’ but ‘it’s not time’ to discuss military action
Israel sets out key changes for a better deal with Iran
French fact sheet differs from US on Iran’s centrifuge use, R&D
Top Democrat backs bill okaying Congress to sink Iran deal
Iran Revolutionary Guard chief backs nuclear deal
Archaeologist believes he’s found site of Jesus’s trial by Pontius Pilate
Arrest made for attack on Bosnian Jewish leader
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Hezbollah leader expects another war with Israel soon
Iraqi officials say 10 mass graves found in Tikrit
Red Cross says situation ‘catastrophic’ in Yemen’s Aden
US defense chief: strongly opposes militarisation of territorial rows in Asia
Activist: Obama’s Anti-ISIS, Middle East Strategy ‘Incoherent’
Israeli document poses 10 key questions about ‘irresponsible, dangerous’ Iran deal
Palestinians want UN timetable for statehood
Jewish cemetery in Poland vandalized
Mass Graves of Islamic State Victims Found in Iraq
Cuba Thaw, Venezuela Sanctions Frame Summit Of The Americas Setting
Anonymous’s ‘Electronic Holocaust’ Against Israel Falls Flat
Tracing The Roots Of ‘The Brothers’ And The Boston Marathon Bombing
Kansas governor signs nation’s first ban on common 2nd-trimester abortion procedure
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Report: Russia behind 2014 attack on White House computer system
Greek leader Alexis Tsipras in Moscow for Putin talks
Tsipras Visit to Putin Follows Road First Paved in Soviet Times
US, Japan trust each other but both wary of China: Poll
Three Scenarios For China-Taiwan Development Bank Tie-up
Khamenei’s Nonexistent Fatwa Banning Nuclear Weapons
Iran ‘is intensifying efforts to support Hamas in Gaza’
Nuclear ‘deal’ critics worried about ‘dueling’ fact sheets from US, Iran
US expedites arms shipments to coalition bombing Yemen
Obama on collision course with Congress over Iran deal
Congress won’t make it easy for Obama
Verifying Iran Nuclear Deal Not Possible, Experts Say
Israel Believes Washington Did Not Maximize Its Leverage with Iran
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Exodus 5
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labors!”
SnyderTalk Comment: Read His Name is Yahweh.
Pharaoh’s arrogance was stunning. He was right about one thing, though: he did not know Yahweh. That was his problem.
Pharaoh was just like the majority of people living today. They do not know Yahweh, and that’s their problem in a nutshell.
Some of them will come to know Him in the days ahead, but many won’t. They are in serious trouble as Pharaoh would soon discover.
The consequence for not knowing Yahweh is more horrific than people can imagine.
Pretending to know Yahweh is the same as not knowing Him.
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
