Congress must oppose the dangerous Iran deal

President Obama has sold a false premise to the American public, military personnel and our elected officials in Congress.

By ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS
A man holds up a sign as he and several thousand other protestors demonstrate during a rally opposing the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square (photo credit: REUTERS)
A man holds up a sign as he and several thousand other protestors demonstrate during a rally opposing the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square
(photo credit: REUTERS)
As Congress inches closer to voting on the Iranian nuclear deal, an historic mistake that will bless the world’s foremost sponsor of terrorism becoming a nuclear threshold state, Americans should be terrified.  Before that nightmarish scenario becomes the status quo, lawmakers should carefully consider the long-term national security implications for our country.  And they should especially bear in mind what this deal could ultimately mean for the men and women in uniform who serve our country.
President Obama has sold a false premise to the American public, military personnel and our elected officials in Congress. According to the President, the only alternative to this woeful deal born from badly botched negotiations is war with Iran.
The President’s desperate claim could not be further from the truth.  The alternative to this bad deal is a better deal, which includes more robust sanctions, no secret side deals, and clearly delineated steps to address Iranian failure to completely abide by the terms.
The reality is that by implementing the disastrous contours of this flawed deal, a virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic regime will emerge stronger and richer than ever.  The Obama Administration’s compact with Tehran all but guarantees more armed conflict and more bloodshed in the Middle East and across the world.
The nuclear agreement with Iran enriches the fanatical mullahs in Tehran with over $150 billion and provides open access to a flow of weapons that had previously been blocked through a strategic arms embargo.  The lifting of economic sanctions that once crippled Iran’s economy, coupled with the removal of a critical arms embargo, will provide Iran with the financial means and weapons to accelerate its support for terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
It provides Iran more cash to fuel its ongoing development of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear devices.  Those missiles are not needed to attack Israel, which is already within range of Iran’s arsenal and rockets in the hands of its terrorist proxies along the Jewish state’s borders.  Those missiles empower Iran to reach the shores of “The Great Satan,” the United States of America.  When Iran chants “Death to America” it is a rallying cry to an eventual outcome that it hopes to actually bring about.
The driving ideology fueling this newfound freedom and cash flow is Iran’s anti-Western and imperialistic agenda. As President Obama tries to convince Americans how great his deal is, Iran’s Supreme Ayatollah Khamenei continues his hate-filled death chants against America and the West and other Iranian leaders continue to proclaim their continued hatred toward America.
President Obama’s nuclear deal strengthens and emboldens Iran.  So what might it mean for the American military personel who we rely upon to safeguard our nation?
Robert Bartlett, a retired staff sergeant who was severely injured by an Iran bomb while serving in Iraq in 2005, isn’t buying the White House pipedream.  And Sgt. Bartlett doesn’t think much of this deal and is urging Congress to reject it, a message he articulates in an ad that is currently airing on TV nationwide.
It would behoove Congress to heed Sgt. Bartlett’s warnings.  The deal before Congress will ultimately pave the way for Iran to emerge as an internationally recognized nuclear threshold state in as little as ten years.
The decisions that we make today will have consequences in the very near future.  Since the deal was announced, Iran has not even bothered to pretend like it will moderate its destructive behavior.  Instead, it has doubled down on its vile anti-American rhetoric. It has reiterated that it intends to annihilate Israel, a key democratic American ally in an unstable and dangerous region.
Tehran has embarked on a spending spree in Russia, acquiring sophisticated weapons systems. 
It has spent recent weeks bragging about its victory over negotiators and declaring that it has no intention of allowing inspectors from the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency to do their job in military sites where suspected nuclear work has taken place simply because Iran is declaring them off-limits.
Before it is too late, Congress should come to its senses and see that the national security risks in this very, very bad deal far outweigh the benefits.  Our legislative branch should exert itself as a co-equal branch of government.  Lawmakers in Congress, especially Democrats, should appraise this deal with clear eyes focused on the facts, not blinded by partisan loyalties.  And vote against it.
Congress should represent the will of the American people who overwhelmingly oppose this deal, and it should stand up to a president who is apparently more intent on securing a foreign policy legacy and notching a victory no matter what the long-term and very real security costs might be for America. 
Armstrong Williams is a USA broadcaster and syndicated columnist