The Patriot Post® · Iran's Leftist Allies

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/55872-irans-leftist-allies-2018-05-10

The Left’s knee-jerk reaction to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal has been striking. The shadow Obama government and its supporters on Capitol Hill not only attacked Donald Trump but they also defended the honor of Iran.

Barack Obama issued a statement declaring that Iran is complying with the deal. Most liberal politicians and pundits repeated this claim, as if Iran were “the good guy” who had been unjustly wronged by Donald Trump.

Well, we don’t know whether Iran is complying. For one thing, Iranian military bases are off-limits from international inspections. Thanks to Israeli intelligence, we know Iran lied about its past nuclear weapons program in order to “seal the deal.”

But let’s assume that Iran hasn’t violated the deal. One of biggest problems is that the deal does not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In fact, the deal paves the way for an Iranian nuclear arsenal.

Some on the Left suggested that if war erupts in the Middle East, it will be Trump’s fault. But there is already war raging throughout the Middle East, and it is Iran’s fault.

Obama’s outreach and diplomacy did nothing to moderate Iran. It did the exact opposite. It emboldened the worst aspects of the regime. Once the deal passed, Iran used its windfall from sanctions relief to increase its aggression throughout the region.

Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen are lobbing missiles into Saudi Arabia. Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah controls Lebanon. It’s massing forces in Syria, using the war-torn country as a base from which it can attack Israel.

Progressive politicians never talk about this, but Iran developed the technology for the most lethal roadside bombs that killed and maimed thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi lashed out at President Trump, saying his decision to abandon the nuclear deal “defies comprehension.” Sorry, Nancy. What truly defies comprehension is how any politician can defend making the deal in the first place, not to mention siding with Iran today.

Getting Tough on Russia

Here’s something else to consider: Who is Iran’s major ally in the Middle East? Russia.

Who does Russia rely on in the Middle East? Not Israel or Saudi Arabia. It’s Iran. Russia is using a Syrian port (Syria is allied with Iran) to project naval power in the Mediterranean Sea.

While Iran used much of the sanctions relief to fund Hamas and Hezbollah, a lot of those resources went to Russia to help fund other nuclear programs and missile systems.

Donald Trump just blew up the deal Obama made that served Iran’s interest and, by extension, Russia’s interests. Trump’s blow was against Russia’s geopolitical goals in the Middle East.

Yet the Left continues to promote the delusion that Trump is “soft” on Russia.

By the way, Trump’s toughness just got more U.S. hostages released from North Korea.

The Deal & Your Vote

Barack Obama was okay with the authoritarian regime in Iran voting on the deal. He was okay with the UN voting on the deal. But he and his Democrat allies did not want the U.S. Senate to vote on the deal.

Out of 46 Democrat senators at the time, only four wanted the Senate to vote on the deal. So 42 Senate Democrats were happy shutting out the American people.

Some of those senators are up for reelection this year. (Bold and italics indicate the most vulnerable incumbents.) They are:

  • Feinstein (D-CA)
  • Murphy (D-CT)
  • Carper (D-DE)
  • Nelson (D-FL)
  • Hirono (D-HI)
  • Donnelly (D-IN)
  • King (I-ME)
  • Warren (D-MA)
  • Stabenow (D-MI)
  • Klobuchar (D-MN)
  • McCaskill (D-MO)
  • Tester (D-MT)
  • Heinrich (D-NM)
  • Gillibrand (D-NY)
  • Heitkamp (D-ND)
  • Brown (D-OH)
  • Casey (D-PA)
  • Whitehouse (D-RI)
  • Kaine (D-VA)
  • Cantwell (D-WA)
  • Baldwin (D-WI)

Harping on Haspel

Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee to lead the CIA, was grilled yesterday by progressives on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Haspel stands accused by the Left of leading the CIA’s post-9/11 “enhanced interrogation” efforts. (Watch this exchange.)

The vote on Haspel’s nomination will be a marker of just how intimidated Democrat senators are by their increasingly extreme left-wing base.

It’s too bad that Republicans can’t produce a surprise witness. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, wants to testify against her. He is opposed to Haspel because he was waterboarded. He wants to tell the senators that Haspel mistreats terrorists.

Let’s see how many Democrats stand with the terrorists over the victims of terrorists. I know that is the kind of statement Donald Trump would make if Haspel is voted down. I hope Republican candidates are willing to make that statement on the campaign trail this year.

By the way, isn’t it interesting how the Left is turning a pole dancer (Stormy Daniels) into a hero while it turns Haspel into a villain?

Schneiderman Down

I’m sure you have heard about the scandal that took down New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. He has been accused by multiple women of having physically and psychologically abused them. According to a Sri Lankan woman, he insisted that she call him “master,” while he referred to her as “my brown slave.”

In a fallen world, sin touches every human being. So I will limit my comments to the politics of this.

What jumped out at me is that these women were all afraid. They wanted to get away from him and expose him. Apparently, many people in New York City knew Schneiderman had a dark private life.

But when these women went to their friends and colleagues in liberal Manhattan, they were reportedly told to keep quiet. They were told that Schneiderman was too important because of his resistance to Trump.

Yes, Schneiderman was aggressively fighting Donald Trump. Far-left comedienne Samantha Bee described him as “a super hero." In addition, he was pro-abortion. He went to the Women’s March. He was instrumental in forcing the Boy Scouts to accept homosexual counselors.

Can you imagine how big the firestorm would be if a rising star on the Right was accused of slapping his mistress around and calling her "my brown slave”? But today Big Media seems to be trying to drop this story. The hypocrisy here reeks to high heaven.