Stumbling Toward War

A spate of stories published last week all point in one troubling direction: America’s adversaries have taken the measure of our commander in chief — and found him seriously wanting.

We begin with the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iran Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan regarding the purchase of the S-300 air defense system and offensive weapons that include Moscow’s most sophisticated T-90 tanks and Su-30 Flanker fighter jets. Thus one of the key provisions of the Iran nuclear deal, a.k.a. UN Resolution 2231 — requiring Tehran to get UN permission before acquiring “battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems” — is on the verge of being ignored. Adding insult to injury, Gen. Dehqan is believed to be the architect of the 1983 Beirut bombing that killed 241 American service members.

Iran is also expected to thumb its nose at the same resolution this month when they test a Simorgh space launch vehicle characterized by U.S. officials as the basis of their covert program to develop long-range nuclear missiles. An unnamed State Department official who spoke with The Washington Free Beacon epitomized the administration’s flaccid response to the prospect, declining to speculate as to whether such a launch would violate the agreement, but promising to address any Iranian actions “inconsistent with any relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions … through the appropriate channels.” Iran insists the space launch vehicle’s 220 pound payload is too small to carry a first-generation nuclear warhead. The Beacon’s Bill Gertz reveals otherwise: “Space launch technology is identical to long-range missile technology.”

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