The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has described the agreement concluded over the weekend in Geneva between the P5+1 — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States) and Germany — and the Islamic Republic of Iran as an appeasement deal. This is our era’s new Munich and President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are the new Neville Chamberlains. Dr. Donald Kagan, renowned Professor of Classics at Yale University, in his book, The Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace, has studied appeasement throughout history and concluded, “appeasement has always failed and ultimately led to violence and war.”
Under the terms of the deal, Iran retains all essential elements of its illegal nuclear weapons program while gaining significant relief from sanctions. Iran will be able to
Continue construction of its Arak plutonium reactor, suspending, but not terminating, heavy water-related projects and not being required to dismantle the site;
- Keep all its centrifuges, need not dismantle a single one;
- Continue to enrich uranium to 5% enrichment for the next six months– enough, given Iran’s recent, hugely expanded number of centrifuges, now numbering over 18,000, to become a “break-out” nuclear state at a time of its choosing;
- Retain half of its existing stocks of 20% enriched uranium, ostensibly, for use nuclear fuel for peaceful uses; &
- Maintain without any limitations its UN Security Council-prohibited intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program, which already enables Iran to strike Israel and Europe and, within a few years, to strike the U.S. as well.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “As we stated last week, a deal that gives Iran relief from sanctions while allowing it to keep essential elements, not for a nuclear energy program, but for a nuclear weapons program, is a historic mistake making the world a more dangerous place — not a safe one. That is what we now have.
“Iran will be able to maintain its research on nuclear explosives which, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports in March 2011 and November 2011, ‘may still be ongoing.’
“The Geneva deal brings us no closer to ascertaining the full extent of these activities — surely a minimum requirement for an interim agreement. How can one have a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear weapons program if the interim agreement specifies no requirements and machinery for ascertaining the extent and nature of such research? As Mark Dubowitz and Orde Kettrie of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies argue, this is ‘all trust and no verify.’
“If we can’t obtain a comprehensive agreement on ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which is the goal, when sanctions now are at their peak, causing Iran great economic pain, how can we expect Iran to end its nuclear weapons program later, when sanctions have been significantly eroded?
“It is an illusion that sanctions can be quickly restored if Iran reneges on this agreement. Sanctions take time to put in place and require agreement from many states eager for trade with Iran. Can anyone recall a case where sanctions that had been dropped were reinstated?
“Worse, the Iranian nuclear weapons program is being unrealistically treated in isolation. This regime has:
Called repeatedly for destruction for America and Israel;
- Proxies that have murdered thousands of Americans;
- Lied about and concealed its nuclear weapons program in the first place;
- Is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, funding and arming recognized terrorist groups including Hizballah and Hamas, both of which have spoken of destroying Israel and America and murdering Jews worldwide;
- Has murdered scores of Jews in terrorist attacks in Argentina; and
- Murdered numerous Iranian human rights advocates and dissidents abroad.
“Last week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, even during these very negotiations, has called Israel a ‘rabid dog’ and declared that ‘Zionist officials cannot be called humans, they are like animals, some of them …The Israeli regime is doomed to failure and annihilation.’ He has called America an ‘enemy that smiles.’ He also promised that Tehran would not step back ‘one iota’ from what he called Iran’s nuclear rights; and professed to be interested in American friendship even while his militiamen chanted ‘Death to America.’
“A murderous, theocratic regime cannot be trusted; any agreement with it must be conclusive and verifiable. This one is not.
“Last month, President Obama’s own former aide on the National Security Council, Gary Samore, warned that ending Iran’s present production of 20%-enriched uranium and reducing future production to 3.5% — as was being proposed at the time — is inadequate because Iran can now reach weapons-grade uranium with its new, improved centrifuges. The current deal, in which Iran can enrich to 5% is, of course, even more inadequate.
“In this way, President Obama’s agreement in Geneva looks frighteningly like Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement at Munich. At Munich, Germany agreed to get only part of what it wanted but was able to prepare for and seize the rest later unopposed. Here, Iran gets only part of what it wants but can prepare for taking the rest later when sanctions are relaxed. As Dubowitz and Kettrie write, ‘even if Iran faithfully implements each of its commitments under the interim agreement, it could find itself, in May 2014, a mere month further away than it is now from having weapons-grade uranium-but six months closer to having the rest of a deliverable nuclear weapon.’
“This agreement may well be more about having an interim deal in place, no matter how flawed, so that Israel can be constrained from taking action against Iran, rather than about ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program. This is more about stopping Israel than about stopping Iran.
“Remember, Vice-President Joseph Biden and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey have both demanded that Israel not use military force against Iran, while Obama adviser and close friend, Zbigniew Brzezinski, once said that, if Israel launched a military strike against Iran, the U.S. should shoot its planes down.
“The ZOA agrees with and commends Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who has criticized the Geneva agreement, saying, “It was strong sanctions, not the goodness of the hearts of the Iranian leaders, that brought Iran to the table, and any reduction relieves the psychological pressure of future sanctions and gives them hope that they will be able to gain nuclear weapon capability while further sanctions are reduced. A fairer agreement would have coupled a reduction in sanctions with a proportionate reduction in Iranian nuclear capability … The disproportionality of this agreement makes it more likely that Democrats and Republicans will join together and pass additional sanctions when we return in December.’