Not all bad news is domestic news.
An Israeli newspaper is reporting that the U.S. and its negotiating partners have acceded to Iran's demands that there will be no inspections of its nuclear facilities.
If this is true (and do you doubt it?), it means that the U.S. will enter into a nuclear deal with Iran that relies solely on the word of the mulluhs. Ronald Reagan's "trust but verify" rule no longer applies.
What will the U.S. get from the Iranian nuclear deal, which could be imminent?
The Washington Examiner notes what both sides will obtain from the likely deal:
[T]he ayatollahs would have good reason to celebrate. They will likely be able to trumpet an internationally recognized right to enrich nuclear material, Iran's reentry into the global economy, the right to maintain a hardened underground research facility, the ability to stiff-arm international inspections and a 10 to 15-year glide path toward an unfettered nuclear program.
Such a deal would satisfy the ayatollahs' dual strategic goals of eliminating the international sanctions regime that has hampered Iran's economy and maintaining nuclear weapons breakout capability. The achievement of both goals would significantly enhance Iran's regional influence, insulate it from outside pressure and more deeply entrench the revolutionary regime of the ayatollahs.
But what would the United States — and our friends and allies around the world — have to show for it? In the end, close to nothing. The deal as currently envisioned would represent a near-complete strategic defeat for the United States. In short, it would be a "we give, the ayatollahs get" scenario.
Iran is the top backer of terrorism and lifting of sanctions will give them more money with which to spread terrorism–not to mention money for nuclear development, which would happen hidden from prying western eyes.
John Hinderaker of Powerline omments:
Iran has consistently declared that it will not allow inspections, and Barack Obama wants a deal at any cost, either because he actually wants to help Iran to obtain nuclear weapons–circumstantial evidence supports that conclusion–or because he is so desperate for some kind of foreign affairs legacy that he is willing to go along with anything. From the beginning of this process, Iran’s government has issued more truthful updates on the status of the negotiations than has our own. In some parallel universe, this would be an embarrassment to an American administration.
The Iranians knew, as Hinderaker notes, that the U. S. was so desperate for a deal that they could get just about anything they wanted. It is unclear what the Obama administration wants from this, as there can be nothing for the good of the region or the world, besides empty bragging rights for having reached an agreement with one of the U.S.'s fiercest enemies.
The Examiner urges President Obama to reverse course. It is not too late.
But it would be a miracle indeed if the president reconsidered. Think of this as a vanity treaty, used to (in his mind) seal President Obama's foreign policy legacy but with potentially drastic effects on the safety of the world.