Alfonse D'Amato

Nuclear deal rewards Iran, puts U.S. at risk

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For years, the U.S. and other nations have been negotiating with Iran, with the goal of reaching a nuclear arms deal. If the goal was to reward Iran, Mission Accomplished.

These were the most concentrated negotiations between Washington and Iran since diplomatic relations ruptured after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. Now we have produced a landmark nuclear agreement that aims to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons in exchange for relief of economic sanctions.

When it comes to treaties, President Reagan, referring to the Soviet Union and arms-control agreements during the Cold War, famously said, “Trust but verify.”

Now my good friend Joe Lieberman, the former Democrat turned independent U.S. senator from Connecticut, a staunch critic of the deal with Iran, summed it up quite succinctly when he said, “There is much more risk for America and reward for Iran than should be in this agreement.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of our greatest allies, has called the deal a historic mistake. “Wide-ranging concessions were made in all of the areas which should have prevented Iran from getting the ability to arm itself with a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu said. “The desire to sign an agreement was stronger than everything else.”

He’s absolutely right. This deal does nothing but preserve Iran’s nuclear system.

At the heart of the agreement is Iran’s acceptance of strict limits on its nuclear activities for 10 years, a condition aimed at keeping the country at least 12 months away from creating a nuclear bomb over that time span.

At this time in our history, despite the sanctions that have been imposed by the United Nations and the U.S., Iran has been creating incredible mayhem in Syria, Libya and Iraq, to the consternation of our allies. It has been crippled by the sanctions, yet it still manages to wreak havoc. Now, with the sanctions lifted, Iran will have an economic infusion, and hundreds of billions of extra dollars to build its military.

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