Speaking truth to power

With all the hubbub over the politics of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s upcoming speech in front of a joint session of Congress, it’s time for some simple truths (“Beyond sanctions and kerfuffles,” February 6).

First, Iran is ruled by an evil regime bent on spreading its oppressive Islamic ideology throughout the world by any means, including bloodthirsty violence. Second, a nuclear-armed Iran poses a danger to the entire civilized world and an existential threat to Israel. Third, the Iranian regime desperately wants nuclear weapons and will do whatever it takes to acquire them.

Everyone with me so far?

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Fourth, Prime Minister Netanyahu is right about how to deal with Iran and President Obama is wrong. Okay, so here’s where I may have lost some of you.

According to many leading analysts, including the editorial staff of the Washington Post, the negotiations that the Obama administration is conducting with Iran will, at best, result in an Iran only a few months away from restarting nuclear weapons production. Iran will continue spinning centrifuges. Iran will continue hiding nuclear production facilities deep underground. Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis of Yemen, will continue spreading their influence throughout the Middle East through terrorism, undeterred by an acquiescent American president. The deal that the president is so concerned about unraveling is a raw deal for America and for America’s Mideast allies, Israel and the moderate Sunni Arab regimes.

Yes, perhaps Prime Minister Netanyahu and Speaker Boehner violated protocol by not consulting with the White House before arranging the prime minister’s speech before a joint session of Congress. (Though some reports indicate that Boehner had informed the White House before receiving Netanyahu’s reply.) Perhaps President Obama’s dignity is diminished by a political ploy arranged by the Republican leadership.

Perhaps. But politics and protocol aside, the simple truth is that the president of the United States is leading America and the world down a dangerous path. Someone needs to speak the truth to power before it’s too late.