Myth Busting Biden's AIPAC Speech

WASHINGTON-- Vice President Joe Biden addressed the 18,000 plus delegates at the AIPAC Policy Conference Sunday evening. Unfortunately, Biden chose to perpetuate numerous myths in his remarks.

MYTH: Regarding Iran’s nuclear weapons program, “We’re no longer dealing with hypotheticals.” Two-thirds of Iran’s centrifuges have been removed.

FACT: Two-thirds of the centrifuges inside one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Fordo, have been removed in recent months, along with all nuclear material. According to the nuclear deal reached last year, “The facility is banned from any nuclear-related work and is being converted to other uses, eliminating the threat that prompted the attack plan, at least for the next 15 years.”

MYTH: “Under this deal, Iran will never be allowed to pursue nuclear weapons.”

FACT: According to Secretary of State John Kerry, the Joint Plan of Action will destroy the 20 percent enriched uranium. However, this is false. The 20 percent enriched uranium was going to be turned into an oxide making it inoperative. That process is chemically reversible, which allowed Iran to hold its 20 percent uranium that can be turned into active chemical reactions at any time. When the deal was announced, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said, “This is a sham from beginning to end. It’s the worst deal since Munich.” The regime itself counters Rice’s claim that Iran has not built new centrifuges. Just two months after reaching the temporary nuclear deal in November 2013, Iran’s nuclear chief boasted the ongoing construction of a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment. In actuality, the temporary deal neglected to prohibit Iran from building new centrifuges.

MYTH: To deter Iran’s nuclear program, the US has allied with “reasonable partners, not just Israel.”

FACT: Biden failed to list those “reasonable partners.”

MYTH: If Iran violates the deal, the US will act.FACT: Last week, Iran launched ballistic missiles capable of striking American allies, especially Israel, in the Middle East. The radical Islamic regime stamped the weapon with a Hebrew translation of the slogan “Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth." There has yet to be a reaction from the US, such as enacting sanctions or military action.

MYTH: “My good friend President Netanyahu…”

FACT: Along with President Obama and other members of the administration, Biden refused to meet with Israel’s prime minister at this time last year. Then-Speaker of the House John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress about the dangers of a nuclear Iran. Along with members of the administration, 58 congressmen (all Democrats) boycotted the prime minister’s speech.

MYTH: Regarding achieving the two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians, Theodore Herzl said, “If you will it, it is no dream.”

FACT: That statement by one of Zionism’s forefathers isn’t related to achieving a two-state solution. Herzl said that with regards to achieving a Jewish state after thousands of years of Jews persecution by European, capped by the Holocaust during World War II.

MYTH: Both sides “need to take meaningful steps” toward peace deal.

FACT: The Palestinians have rejected Israeli offers for statehood three times. The most recent offer was in 2008 by then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The offer would have annexed major Israeli blocs and, in return, given equivalent Israeli territory to the Palestinians, and would have divided Jerusalem.

MYTH: The US provides Israel with “the best [military] equipment available.”

FACT: According to a report published by Cato Institute:

While bilateral defense cooperation has helped boost the Israeli arms industry, the conditions on American aid do the opposite. Since in some cases the Israeli government has to go with U.S. weapons even if the domestic products were better, cheaper or both, efficient Israeli producers lose government contracts and consequent economies of scale. Israeli companies also have to purchase American raw materials, which raise the costs of Israeli weapons in world markets.

MYTH: Regarding boycotting Israel, “To marginalize one group imperializes us all.”

FACT: Though the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement is bigoted, this statement is hypocritical of an administration that has shown little support for military veterans, police officers, and others who serve and protect. Last month in Commentary, Manhattan Institute fellow Heather Mac Donald wrote, “Simply put, the man [Barack Obama] twice elected to the country’s highest office routinely and repeatedly charges that cops and the courts are awash in systematic racial bias…The negative effect of such rhetoric on the morale of the police, on the perceived legitimacy of the criminal-justice system, and on the atmosphere in which police operate is incalculable. Over and over again, the commander in chief of our armed forces has told the nation’s constabulary he views them as constitutional blackguards.”

Regarding the administration’s treatment of combat veterans, this month the Department of Veterans Affairs began publishing its findings of investigations launched two years ago into charges that VA medical facilities adjusted patient appointment schedules to meet department standards. The Office of the Inspector General released 15 reports on scheduling problems at VA hospitals and clinics in Florida, Iowa and Minnesota on Monday, following complaints from members of Congress and the media that the office was sitting on the investigations, which were completed in 2014. The reports found procedural aberrations at nine of the 15 facilities investigated, but the VA inspector general noted that in most cases, patient care was unaffected and managers did not direct employees to manipulate the wait times.

Source: AAN