Trump’s recent speeches and rantings have further convinced me that he would be a danger to our country and to the world if elected president. Hillary is far less undesirable.
George Epstein
Los Angeles, CA
Groveling To Iran
Is there any groveling too low for the Obama administration in its increasingly sorry submission to Iranian dictates? The latest outrage: the ransoming of four illegally-seized Americans with an immense payment of $400 million in foreign currencies, shipped on bill-stacked pallets, in the dead of night, via unmarked airplane.
Of course, the administration disingenuously rejects the term “ransom.” Few others, leastwise the Iranians, are buying that. They’ve already got a replacement cache of cashable captives. That the hostages weren’t released till the cash-carrying plane finally arrived says it all.
In its fevered pursuit of the appalling Iran nuclear deal, the administration repeatedly lied to Congress and the American people. A recent leaked secret side document, wherein Iran is allowed to install highly advanced centrifuges after ten, rather than fifteen, years, is only the latest embarrassing disclosure.
The “strictest enforcement regimen in history” has been exposed as a cruel hoax, its “snapback” provisions shown to be utterly useless. America has suffered humiliation after humiliation from Iran – seizure of its sailors, dangerously close aerial and naval approaches to its warships, missile launches and furtive dual-use technology purchases, etc. – with hardly a complaint.
In the dispiriting denouement of congressional debate, vocal opposition to the deal functionally collapsed. Silence now is no longer acceptable. Congress needs to extend soon-to-expire sanctions and add others. It must insist that American victims of Iranian sponsored terrorism be first claimants on seized Iranian assets before more blood money is sent to finance further terror. It must demand the administration’s full adherence to its promises to ensure Iran’s full compliance with the agreement.
Most important of all, Congress must send an unmistakable message to the incoming administration that it will never again supinely submit to any such future folly.
Richard D. Wilkins
Syracuse, NY