Thank you President Xi Jinping of China and
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia
How bizarre is the
news? After years of negotiating with
Iran over nuclear weapons by the Obama administration, at the eleventh-hour the
breakthrough came and the world first heard about approval of a treaty between
Iran and the United States, and the UK, and Germany, and France, and the
European Union, and who did you say?
In the end, it was the
vote of Russia and China , equal partners in the negotiations, who
gave life to the treaty and hope to the people of Iran , who have lived under the yoke
of sanctions for years. President Xi
Jinping of China and
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia
saved the day for Obama.
Funny, you do not hear
much about how Russia and China made the
Obama treaty possible. I did not hear
Obama and Kerry thanking the two semi-bad boys for making possible perhaps the
greatest peace development in the Middle East .
Last year I wrote an
article calling for an end to sanctions against Iran ,
Cuba , and Russia , on the
grounds the sanctions did not work. So
far, actions by the Obama administration are ending them in Cuba and Iran .
The wisdom and
effectiveness of the lifting of sanctions will take years to determine but the
initial hope it has given to the Iranian people is gratifying. The people of Iran believe they have been set
free and that is a good side benefit.
Which brings up another question,
why is it the Iranian people were the only people in the world celebrating this
new treaty? They refer to it as
"freedom." Perhaps the
significance of the treaty goes way beyond nuclear bombs, and it will open the
gate toward improved relations with the people of Iran .
I say give the treaty a
try, things cannot get worse with Iran . At the same time, Obama needs to start
mending fences with other friends and allies like Israel ,
Russia , and China . Stop blaming them for everything bad and try
working toward something good.
.