One thing George W. Bush got right: the Islamic Republic of Iran is an evil regime. It seems an elementary point. It seems obvious. The regime is responsible for the murder and disfigurement of many Americans. It is the proud supporter of terrorist organizations including but not limited to Hamas and Hezbollah. It is itself a tyrannical, murderous, terrorist regime. Yet President Obama is operating on a theory of international relations that has enriched and empowered the regime.
Iran took at least $100 billion as the downpayment for its professed support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The JCPOA is the unsigned nuclear deal entered into with Iran by the United States and others with Iran. Has there ever been anything like it? At least Hitler signed the Munich Agreement, and England didn’t pony up financial support to his regime. Appeasement, Obama style may not represent something new under the sun, but it’s a new low.
This past Wednesday the Islamic Republic of Iran gave indication of how it was putting some of its newfound cash to use. It has promised payments of $7,000 for the families of the deceased Palestinian murderers of Israeli Jews and others in the ongoing stabbing intifada. Speaking at a press conference in Beirut on Wednesday, Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Fathali brought glad tidings.
Fathali announced that the Iranian regime Tehran will give $7,000 to families of “martyrs of the intifada in occupied Jerusalem” and a further “$30,000 to every family whose home the occupation has demolished for the participation of one of its sons.” Fathali called on the Arab Muslim nation to unite around the central Palestinian issue and said that “the martyrs’ blood will release the entire Palestine, from the river to the sea.” The Times of Israel reports the story here, the Jerusalem Post here.
Here the Islamic Republic of Iran is stepping into the shoes of the late Saddam Hussein, deposed by the United States in 2003. At Fox News Paul Alster recalls: “Paying stipends to the families of terrorists killed attacking Israelis was pioneered by Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi dictator told a TV audience in March 2002 he would pay $25,000 to the families of deceased Palestinian suicide bombers. Less than a week later, a Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up in Jerusalem’s Moment Café, killing 11 Israelis and seriously wounding 16 more. Just three months later, the mother of the suicide bomber received a check from Hussein, as promised, for $25,000.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon notes that they’re coming for us. Alster quotes Ya’alon: “The Iranian regime, through the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps, is building a complex terror infrastructure, including [sleeper] cells that are stockpiling arms, intelligence and operatives, and are ready to act on order, including in Europe and America.”
So far as I can tell, Obama administration spokesman Josh Earnest either could not be reached for comment or hasn’t been asked about it. The words of Secretary of State John Kerry this past Wednesday before a Senate subcommittee undoubtedly apply here: “Well, uhh [sniff]…[they’re] not supposed to be doing that.”
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