When a number of political analysts declared that the Iranian nuclear weapons deal was the equivalent in foreign policy to what Obamacare was in domestic policy, they may have been more accurate than they knew. The Washington Times is reporting that congressional Democrats are starting to get nervous about the deal that they largely signed on to.
Obamacare, which was rammed through Congress accompanied by dodgy tactics and side deals, has not only proven to be disastrous as health care policy but also for Democratic fortunes in Congress. The 2010 and 2014 midterms have decimated the ranks of congressional Democrats. The reasons are many, but the one that stands out is public discontent over the health care law.
No sooner had the ink dried than Iran tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. While the test was not a violation of the Iran nuclear weapons deal, it was a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929.
The missile test is only one of a number of slights and violations that the Iranian government has perpetrated. Iran persists in holding at least three, possibly four American hostages. Iranian troops are in combat in both Iraq and Syria. Iranian leaders persist in issuing blood-curdling threats against both Israel, an American ally, and the United States itself.
Democrats are now steeling themselves to be on the receiving end of I-told-you-sos from their Republican counterparts. Every instance of a treaty violation or an attempt to cheat on the nuclear weapons agreement will be used by, not only presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz but every Republican who is running for Senate or House seats. Democrats who voted to approve the Iran nuclear weapons deal will be called to account. In some cases, their answers will prove inadequate to assuage the voters.
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, Americans have thought themselves to be freed from the threat of nuclear destruction. The era of duck and cover and protests over nuclear weapons is a dim memory.
One thing about the Soviets (as well as the current Russian president, Vladimir Putin) is that, while they were homicidal, they were not suicidal. The same might not be said about the mullahs in Tehran, some of whom might be comfortable with launching a nuclear exchange if it brings about the advent of the 13th Imam, a legendary figure in Shia Islam who is supposed to create a universal caliphate. The old rules of the balance of terror, which restrained both sides from using their nuclear arsenal, might not apply. Iran may well destroy Israel or explode an EMP device over North America, even if the Islamic Republic is laid waste in response. One martyr or 77 million martyrs are much the same things in the view of the Ayatollahs.
The threat of nuclear war and the awful thing that will have to be done to avoid it seem a minor matter to Democrats next to the prospect of an election wipeout. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both support the Iran nuclear deal. One can only imagine what the eventual Republican nominee will do with that in less than a year’s time. One would think they would have learned their lesson with Obamacare. And it is not as if they were not warned about the wages of appeasement.