Former U.S Secretary of State John Kerry, lead negotiator of the JCPOA, arrives at the International Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 16, 2018. (Andreas Gebert/dpa via AP)
For some reason, Jews have this thing about people being gassed, so it should come as no surprise that Israel reacted to "Animal Assad's" (another Trump nickname that should stick) horrendous actions against his own people again before the rest of the world could say "boo" -- or even tut-tut at the Security Council.
Israel apparently took the opportunity to do some damage to a Syrian airbase used by the Iranians for drone attacks and other mayhem aimed at Haifa and Tel Aviv. The IDF also may have gotten some Russians into the bargain -- a trifecta against the new axis of evil. (The ever-popular Hezbollah and some other Iranian-backed militia may also have been present.)
At first the Syrians accused the U.S. of the action, but -- after an American denial -- became suddenly vague in their accusations. They don't like to admit Israel can attack them with impunity.
Meanwhile, the usual suspects will wave the bloody shirt, but I suspect Donald Trump will react (or has reacted) much as Ronald Reagan did when the Israelis took out Saddam's reactor and say "Boys will be boys." Or, as Haaretz reports:
The U.S. Pentagon said it was not conducting airstrikes in Syria "at this time," formally denying the Syrian state television report.When asked about the explosions, an Israeli spokeswoman declined to comment.
They are also reporting 14 dead, including Iranians.
Which leads to an inescapable conclusion: The Iran Deal as we know it is dead. It was inadvertently gassed by Assad along with all the innocent civilians. (Also dead are Trump's hopes of getting out of Syria, at least in the short term.)
Call it collateral damage -- of the best sort. When John Bolton takes office as national security adviser this week, he won't have to work as hard as he might have thought to withdraw from this absurd non-agreement whose details no one ever saw.
The Europeans have reportedly been fighting desperately to save the deal for their own economic purposes. They make a lot of money trading with the mullahs, and to accommodate drop all manner of the moral posturing that is a daily occurrence in Brussels. But Assad has put the Euros in a corner with his actions. They were hoping for a compromise with Trump, but thanks to the gassing, their bargaining position has become weaker. And now they have Bolton to deal with.
Among the minor results of "Animal Assad" launching yet another horrific chemical attack was to make a mockery, if it wasn't already, of John Kerry's 2014 Meet the Press pronouncement: "We struck a deal where we got 100% of the chemical weapons out [of #Syria]."
Just more idiocy by a credulous politician? Well, sure, but Mr. Kerry, as Obama's secretary of State, was also the chief of the American delegation negotiating the Iran nuclear deal.
First Assad, then the mullahs. Mr. Kerry -- as well as his boss Barack Obama and lead negotiator Wendy Sherman -- seems to have had a habit of believing dictators. History has the opposite habit.
They didn't learn the lessons of the past, although there are so many prominent examples, like the Munich agreement of 1938, showing them the truth. Despots lie. That's what they do. To pretend otherwise is self-delusion.
The only way to deal with dictators is to bring them to their knees.
Roger L. Simon is an award-winning novelist, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and co-founder of PJ Media. His latest book is I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasn't Already.
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