Tuesday, June 23, 2015

See No Iran Evil at State

See No Iran Evil at State - WSJ
...But here’s a less obvious risk: 
The U.S. might find evidence that Iran is cheating but fail to act out of bureaucratic neglect—or a political desire to look the other way.
That’s the message of a report last month by the Government Accountability Office, which found that the State Department had failed to provide timely reports to Congress on the proliferation activities of Iran, North Korea and Syria
Instead of delivering reports every six months, as required by law, delays ranged from 22 months to three years.
...As for willful delay,...That’s a delicate way of admitting that the State Department is willing to obscure facts to promote its arms-control agenda.
That happened in 2010, when State failed to report Russia’s violations of the 1987 INF Treaty while the Administration was pressing the Senate to approve the New Start nuclear treaty. 
More recently the Administration has played down Iran’s failure to convert low-enriched uranium into oxide form, as required under the interim 2013 deal. 
Secretary of State John Kerry caved again last week when he disclosed that the Administration is ready to lift sanctions without a full accounting of Iran’s past nuclear work.
If this experience is any guide, don’t expect the Administration to meet its obligations under the recent Corker-Cardin bill on Iran, which requires the executive branch to provide twice-yearly updates on Iran’s compliance with an agreement.
Arms control is an obsession in which belief is inversely proportional to evidence of success, and so it is with this Iran deal. 
How is the U.S. supposed to enforce an Iran deal when the State Department would rather cover up an adversary’s deceit than face the failure of U.S. diplomacy?

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