Cheney: Iran deal likely to lead to first use of nuclear weapon since WWII

In Washington Post op-ed, former VP and daughter call on congress to reject Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 02:00
Former US vice-president Dick Cheney (photo credit: REUTERS)
Former US vice-president Dick Cheney
(photo credit: REUTERS)
In an op-ed written for The Wall Street Journal entitled, "Restoring American Exceptionalism," former US vice president Dick Cheney together with his daughter Liz, accused President Barak Obama of agreeing to a deal with Iran that will likely lead to “the first use of a nuclear weapon since Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
Stating that America has “guaranteed freedom, security and peace for a larger share of humanity than any other nation in all of history,” they accused Obama of weakening the fundamental pillars that make the United States great.
They claim President Obama has departed from the “ 75-year, largely bipartisan tradition of ensuring America’s preeminence and strength,” they wrote.
“He has advocated cutting our nuclear force in the naive hope that this will persuade rogue regimes to do the same. He has imposed limits on our ability to modernize and maintain nuclear weapons. He has reduced the nation’s missile-defense capabilities,” they continued.
They accused Obama of gutting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, “arguably the single most effective multilateral arms-control agreement in history,” with the Iran deal.
Obama’s claims that the agreement will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is entirely false, as is everything else he has said about the deal, they claimed.
“President Obama told us he would never accept a deal based on trust. ..Instead, the Obama deal provides the Iranians with months to delay inspections and fails to address past clandestine work at military sites,” they wrote.
They rebuffed Obama’s claim that the Iranian deal is the only way to prevent war. They said that this deal will accelerate the production of nuclear weapons across the Middle East as well as give Iranians billions of dollars thanks to the sanctions relief which will likely be funneled to fund terror.
The Cheneys implored the US Congress to reject the deal and to reimpose the sanctions that have been lifted from Iran.
“It is possible to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon, but only if the US negotiates from a position of strength, refuses to concede fundamental points and recognizes that the use of military force will be required if diplomacy fails to convince Iran to abandon its quest for nuclear weapons,” they wrote.
They called on the American people to consider carefully the next person who will enter the White House to take the place of Obama.
“The right person in the Oval Office can restore America’s strength and alliances, defeat our enemies, and keep us safe...The peace and security of the world and the surviv - al of our freedom depend on it. We must choose wisely.”
Liz and Dick Cheney co-authored Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America , to be published on September 1.