Obama Capitulation to Iran Has Made It Even More Dangerous

This week, Virginia Congressman Randy Forbes, a member of the Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon that classified details of Iranian treatment of American sailors seized by Iran earlier this year would shock the nation and reveal that the Obama administration's weak response. Forbes was briefed by Pentagon officials about the incident and is encouraging all members to get the briefing. The Washington Free Beacon reported that Forbes said : "I’ve had a full classified briefing from military officials. It could be as long as a year before we actually get that released. I think that when the details actually come out, most Americans are going to be kind of taken aback by the entire incident, both how Iran handled it and how we handled it. I think that’s going to be huge cause for concern for most Americans.” Forbes suggested that Iran’s treatment of the US sailors -- including filming them crying and forcing them to apologize at gunpoint -- may have been much worse than publicly reported. He told the Free Beacon : “I think clearly there were violations of international and maritime law....We [the United States] did almost nothing in response, in fact, to have Secretary Kerry actually thank them for releasing our sailors after they way they captured them, I think was a slap in the sailors’ face.” ~~~~~ Congressman Forbes is sponsoring a new measure to increase sanctions on Iran for its treatment of the US sailors in order to hold Iran accountable for its aggressive behavior : “Iranian military and paramilitary vessels have repeatedly behaved in a dangerous and unprofessional manner in close proximity to naval vessels and commercial shipping operating in internationally recognized maritime traffic lanes." Forbes says there is little doubt Obama handed the Iranians a propaganda coup with his weak response. Iran is now planning to build a monument to commemorate its "victory," and gloating after the sailors' release. But, says Forbes, the Obama administration doesn't care about American honor and is bending over backwards to appease the Iranians, so it's not surprising they would suppress information about the treatment of American naval personnel, nor is it a shock that they would cover up their own weak response to the incident. ~~~~~ The Forbes sanctions proposal comes as Senate Republicans are demanding that President Obama fire senior White House advisor Ben Rhodes for controversial comments he made about the Iran nuclear deal. Senators Mark Kirk, John Cornyn and John Barrasso sent Obama a letter urging him to "dismiss Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes before he further tarnishes the office of President. We are deeply disturbed to read...Rhodes’s public admission to The New York Times that he spearheaded the charge to mislead elected lawmakers and the American people about the Iran nuclear deal and the negotiations that led to this agreement." In the letter sent to Obama Monday, the Senators said if Rhodes had "conducted himself this way in a typical place of business outside Washington...he surely would have already been fired or asked to resign." ~~~~~ Rhodes's comments in the article, belittling journalists and foreign policy experts, has sparked fierce backlash in Washington. GOP lawmakers argue his remarks prove that the Obama administration lied to help sell the nuclear agreement, an accusation White House press secretary Josh Earnest denies. The three GOP Senators want to know how the administration will restore American public trust : "What steps will your Administration itself take to engage in rational discourse and repair damaged relations with the Congress?" ~~~~~ The letter was sent while White House Counsel Neil Eggleston said that that Rhodes will not appear before the House Oversight Committee, saying the request “raises significant constitutional concerns rooted in the separation of powers.” ~~~~~ Dear readers, clearly, Obama's nuclear deal has made Iran even more boldly aggressive and dangerous. Tomorrow, we'll look at post-nuclear-deal Iranian aggression.