Op-Ed: The Iran Deal: They Win, We Lose

By Jack Englehard

It's a callous, cynical deal.

So it’s a done deal and Iran gets to keep its nuclear program moving along, some say slowly, some say quickly.


Depends who’s talking and it depends who’s smiling. In Iran it’s festive. Not so in Israel.

Frankly, even the Palestinian Arabs should not be gloating over the deal hatched between Kerry and Mullahs.

In a snap their grievances that they’ve nursed and popularized throughout the world are suddenly less attractive now that Israel (and everybody else) faces a rogue regime, Iran, that’s been retooled financially and militarily, thanks to Western negotiators who’ve been outhustled by Persian flim-flam artists.

The nations are less likely to say how high when Palestinian leaders say jump. Now that something bigger has come along, a fattened Iran, the Palestinians, who had their chances for peace, but blew them all, will have to stand in line and wait their turn to win back the world’s attention.

Israel, for one, is unlikely to be in any mood to even discuss any sort of concessions to the Palestinians. The Israelis are ticked off. Rightly so.

The Jewish State has a bigger, more urgent fight on its hands, a country, Iran, that’s been freed from sanctions and given time to build its bombs.

Even as the ink was drying on the paper, the papers signed between Tehran and the Six World Powers, led by the Obama Administration, disputes immediately arose as to what was agreed. Obama says that sanctions will be lifted gradually. The mullahs say no. The sanctions will be lifted immediately.


We the Suckers were played like a script from a B-movie.Obama says that inspectors will be allowed to check up on Iran’s nuclear behavior practically any time after a 21-day heads up.

Not quite, say the mullahs. Yes, 21 days, but then another week and even another week before Iran gets to decide who gets a passport.

In other words, Iran gets the final say and we can sure that centrifuges will be hidden and games will be played.

In the coming hours, days, weeks, months and years, get ready for headlines about Iran’s refusal to comply with this, that or any part of the agreement.

On Iran’s mischief and double-dealing -- on that we can gamble because it is a sure bet.
From the start, We the Suckers were played like a script from a B-movie. It’s Kerry versus the ayatollahs. Will he win? Will he lose?

Stay tuned for the suspense.

In the end, there was no doubt. Obama and his man Kerry were going to shove this through at all costs.

What costs?

For the best possible interpretation, Iran gets about 10 years before it can really go crazy building intercontinental ballistic missiles.

That is small comfort for those of us of a certain age.

But who would be so callous as to imperil our kids and our grandkids, both in Israel and within the United States?

In 10 years it will be their world, their consequences, all of it from the hand of our own President Obama who thinks he did the world a favor.