"REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 AND 2012" - Allen West | Sep 09, 2015;
http://townhall.com/columnists/allenwest/2015/09/09/remembering-september-11-2001-and-2012-n2049622/page/full
The US Congress will return to Capitol Hill this week after the August recess and Labor Day holiday. They will immediately have to take up a monumental foreign policy issue that will present immense challenges for the free world: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal.
Last week, U.S. Senator from Maryland Barbara Mikulski became the coveted 34th vote that sealed President Obama’s veto. Due to the U.S. Senate not treating the JCPOA as a treaty - as the Constitution outlines - President Obama only needed to attain one third in order to sustain his veto of the resolution of disapproval. However, since the Republican controlled Senate decided to restore the 60 vote filibuster threshold – remember Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had changed it to a simple majority – Obama can keep the JCPOA resolution from even coming to a vote with 41 Senate Democrats. That means Obama needed only seven more Democrats to preclude the JCPOA from even being brought to a vote.
Let’s recall that President Obama stated that the JCPOA should be voted upon and not just simply debated in the media. Upon this agreement being signed by the P5+1 the objective was not to allow our Congress to read, debate, and vote – but instead the Obama Administration went first to the UN Security Council for approval, which was unanimously achieved. And now the goal is to garner enough partisan party votes to defeat the resolution of disapproval itself. So much for the American legislative process and the consent of the governed.
This Wednesday, there will be a massive rally at the US Capitol against the JCPOA. According to President Obama this is just a gathering of “crazies,” but the American people deserve to know: how exactly does the JCPOA benefit America? There are no “snapback” sanctions. America is not allowed to participate on any inspection teams. We have come to find out what one of the IAEA-Iran side deals is – Iran gets to inspect its own Parchin military installation. You know, the one that Iran has been stonewalling for inspections and hiding.
Iran has already started negotiations for weapons deals, despite the supposed ban on conventional weapons sales and purchase for another five years. Iran has unveiled a new ballistic missile system, when it is supposed to be under a ballistic missile ban for another eight years.
We, the “crazies,” just want to know what it is that America gets from the JCPOA? Spare us the rhetorical explanation that the only alternative is war – history dispels that assertion. President Obama’s declaration referencing this “deal” was no different than the declaration of President Bill Clinton in 1994 referencing the North Korean nuclear deal. It was just twelve years later in 2006 that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea, tested a nuclear device. Chamberlain did not avert war; Clinton did not avert war; and Obama’s JCPOA will not avert war. As history evidences, the weakness will only serve to embolden the “Dogs of War.”
So here we are just a few days from 911, a very sacred day when we shall remember the assaults of Islamic jihadism/terrorism against the United States. In 2001 thousands of Americans lost their lives because we failed to confront the enemy, Al Qaeda. Our lack of determined action only emboldened their movement. And it was the Clinton administration that allowed a group called the Taliban to establish a 7th century Islamic caliphate in Afghanistan, from which they planned, trained, and launched their attack. Today, we have allowed ISIS to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and our lackluster response is enabling them to grow and proliferate their savage and barbaric ideological objectives – as well as create the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.
We are a few days from remembering 9-11-2012, which some consider a faux issue, where our nation abandoned four Americans to die. But even more disturbing was the obfuscation by the Obama Administration, which blamed it all on a video.
And now, we are being told to support an agreement with the largest state sponsor of Islamic terrorism in the world. We must ask ourselves: who exactly are the “crazies,” those who oppose this ill-conceived policy? Or could it be the ones shouting “death to America,” “death to Israel,” and who hope for the day of return of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi. They are the ones who believe that a catastrophic event will usher in the restoration of a global Islamic caliphate. Perhaps the “crazies” are the ones who have no defense of the JCPOA other than to demonize those presenting appropriate inquiry?
Regardless, we shall all be deemed as “the crazies” if at the time when we remember 9-11 we enable the Islamic Republic of Iran to further its design to support Islamic terrorism. We owe our children and grandchildren a better and more secure future. We must not fail as others have throughout history to recognize the dangers and threat posed to liberty, freedom, and peace. Neville Chamberlain’s wrong assessment of “peace in our time” led to the loss of millions of lives.
As we remember 9-11, let us not forget that Iran was killing Americans even before 2001. 241 people were killed in the 1983 Beirut Barracks bombing. And today, we know that 20% of the deaths in Iraq – estimated at 500 American troops – were killed due to Iran supplying of explosive force penetrator IEDs to Islamic terrorists.
Two words come to mind: “never again.”
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
Allen West - A former member of Congress, Allen West is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who served as a battalion commander in Iraq and is the CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas.
http://townhall.com/columnists/allenwest/2015/09/09/remembering-september-11-2001-and-2012-n2049622/page/full
The US Congress will return to Capitol Hill this week after the August recess and Labor Day holiday. They will immediately have to take up a monumental foreign policy issue that will present immense challenges for the free world: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal.
Last week, U.S. Senator from Maryland Barbara Mikulski became the coveted 34th vote that sealed President Obama’s veto. Due to the U.S. Senate not treating the JCPOA as a treaty - as the Constitution outlines - President Obama only needed to attain one third in order to sustain his veto of the resolution of disapproval. However, since the Republican controlled Senate decided to restore the 60 vote filibuster threshold – remember Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had changed it to a simple majority – Obama can keep the JCPOA resolution from even coming to a vote with 41 Senate Democrats. That means Obama needed only seven more Democrats to preclude the JCPOA from even being brought to a vote.
Let’s recall that President Obama stated that the JCPOA should be voted upon and not just simply debated in the media. Upon this agreement being signed by the P5+1 the objective was not to allow our Congress to read, debate, and vote – but instead the Obama Administration went first to the UN Security Council for approval, which was unanimously achieved. And now the goal is to garner enough partisan party votes to defeat the resolution of disapproval itself. So much for the American legislative process and the consent of the governed.
This Wednesday, there will be a massive rally at the US Capitol against the JCPOA. According to President Obama this is just a gathering of “crazies,” but the American people deserve to know: how exactly does the JCPOA benefit America? There are no “snapback” sanctions. America is not allowed to participate on any inspection teams. We have come to find out what one of the IAEA-Iran side deals is – Iran gets to inspect its own Parchin military installation. You know, the one that Iran has been stonewalling for inspections and hiding.
Iran has already started negotiations for weapons deals, despite the supposed ban on conventional weapons sales and purchase for another five years. Iran has unveiled a new ballistic missile system, when it is supposed to be under a ballistic missile ban for another eight years.
We, the “crazies,” just want to know what it is that America gets from the JCPOA? Spare us the rhetorical explanation that the only alternative is war – history dispels that assertion. President Obama’s declaration referencing this “deal” was no different than the declaration of President Bill Clinton in 1994 referencing the North Korean nuclear deal. It was just twelve years later in 2006 that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea, tested a nuclear device. Chamberlain did not avert war; Clinton did not avert war; and Obama’s JCPOA will not avert war. As history evidences, the weakness will only serve to embolden the “Dogs of War.”
So here we are just a few days from 911, a very sacred day when we shall remember the assaults of Islamic jihadism/terrorism against the United States. In 2001 thousands of Americans lost their lives because we failed to confront the enemy, Al Qaeda. Our lack of determined action only emboldened their movement. And it was the Clinton administration that allowed a group called the Taliban to establish a 7th century Islamic caliphate in Afghanistan, from which they planned, trained, and launched their attack. Today, we have allowed ISIS to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and our lackluster response is enabling them to grow and proliferate their savage and barbaric ideological objectives – as well as create the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.
We are a few days from remembering 9-11-2012, which some consider a faux issue, where our nation abandoned four Americans to die. But even more disturbing was the obfuscation by the Obama Administration, which blamed it all on a video.
And now, we are being told to support an agreement with the largest state sponsor of Islamic terrorism in the world. We must ask ourselves: who exactly are the “crazies,” those who oppose this ill-conceived policy? Or could it be the ones shouting “death to America,” “death to Israel,” and who hope for the day of return of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi. They are the ones who believe that a catastrophic event will usher in the restoration of a global Islamic caliphate. Perhaps the “crazies” are the ones who have no defense of the JCPOA other than to demonize those presenting appropriate inquiry?
Regardless, we shall all be deemed as “the crazies” if at the time when we remember 9-11 we enable the Islamic Republic of Iran to further its design to support Islamic terrorism. We owe our children and grandchildren a better and more secure future. We must not fail as others have throughout history to recognize the dangers and threat posed to liberty, freedom, and peace. Neville Chamberlain’s wrong assessment of “peace in our time” led to the loss of millions of lives.
As we remember 9-11, let us not forget that Iran was killing Americans even before 2001. 241 people were killed in the 1983 Beirut Barracks bombing. And today, we know that 20% of the deaths in Iraq – estimated at 500 American troops – were killed due to Iran supplying of explosive force penetrator IEDs to Islamic terrorists.
Two words come to mind: “never again.”
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
Allen West - A former member of Congress, Allen West is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who served as a battalion commander in Iraq and is the CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas.
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