A Clown Show Still

I challenge the American government to release the full text in advance of signing so that we might all see what we are getting ourselves into.

Iran signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Iran signed the JCPOA with Obama.

In both, Iran signed documents publicly pledging to never seek to build or acquire nuclear weapons.

Despite both, Iran has been working on a nuclear weapons program the whole time. Various Iranian leaders have admitted it.

They signed the papers and ignored the papers.

Catholics fundamentally, by faith, believe that when they take communion, the elements physically become the body and blood of Christ. Even most Christian branches reject that belief. Catholics fundamentally believe it.

The Iranian regime fundamentally believes the twelfth Mahdi disappeared into a fold in space as a child and will come back at the right time. Iran’s leaders believe their reason for being is to remove the barriers to the Mahdi’s return. Israel is one of those barriers. Even most branches of Islam reject that belief. The Iranian leaders fundamentally believe it.

People have by-faith beliefs you may not take seriously. But those of the faith take them seriously and we should not dismiss the sincerity of their beliefs.

The fundamental problem with Western secular government dealing with Iran is that the West rejects the miracles. Even many Western leaders who claim faith do not truly believe in what they profess. So they struggle to relate to those who truly believe in deeply held by-faith convictions.

The Catholic belief in transubstantiation does not affect you, though it incentivizes haters of the Faith to steal and corrupt the sacraments.

Th Iranian belief in setting the stage for the Mahdi’s return affects the whole world and we should act accordingly, not have them sign a paper they will, by faith, work to undermine.

Neither Iran nor the United States is publicly willing to release the text of the deal, but we know two things based on Iran’s foreign minister’s televised appearance in Iran overnight — an appearance that happened after the President of the United States demanded Iran walk back its earlier spin of the deal.

First, Iran and Oman would share a “service fee” for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. That is new and would provide regular funds to Iran. While Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can divert some, not all, of their oil flow via pipelines, some of their oil still flows by ship. Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar overwhelmingly ship their oil by boat.

This will be a new and novel revenue stream for Iran.

Second, anything having to do with Iran’s nuclear program will be deferred for later talks. As I am writing this, Iran is hard at work laying mines and otherwise actively taking steps to block access to its nuclear materials.

Third, the United Arab Emirates, despite denials, does appear ready to transmit a few billion dollars to Iran. The UAE is quibbling over the wording of what money goes to Iran, but has not actually explicated denied any transfer of funds to Iran.

I do not know why it is so hard for President Trump to understand that, having provoked this war, he cannot now end it with Iran in the position Trump has left that nation.

The enforcement mechanisms so Iran cannot divert its new revenue stream to terrorists is unknown and, we know, Iran has worked feverishly for years to work around the existing mechanisms to great affect.

Neither side wants to show the text until it is signed, which itself is alarming. But based on the two things we know from Iran’s foreign minister, the United States destroyed most of Iran’s war making capacity and will now provide Iran the means to rebuild it.

And we will not get Iran’s nuclear materials, which this present agreement will not even deal with.

The United States won a war and appears now willing to lose it and allow its enemy — which has killed thousands of Americans for years — to rearm and nuclearize.

Joe Biden handed Afghanistan back to the Taliban.

Donald Trump intends to embolden Iran’s quest for the apocalypse.

I stand by what I wrote yesterday. The President is beclowning himself.

Again, I challenge the American government to release the full text in advance of signing so that we might all see what we are getting ourselves into.