DEALING WITH IRAN

Well, they hammered out a deal with Iran over nukes, and now the fun begins.

Seems like all Republicans are against it. The thing is, you can't really tell what that means. If President Obama is for something, Republicans tend to be against it. On principle.

(The Principle of Knee-jerk Political Objection.)

So, is it really a bad deal?

It's designed to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon for ten years. The anti-deal ads on TV say Iran will then be able to produce a bomb in two months.

Really?

Even if that's true (and I doubt it), that means Iran won't have a bomb for ten years and two months. That's better than nothing, right?

Question: How long will it take them to get a bomb without this deal? Two months? Three?

Obama says the alternative to this agreement is some kind of war. Republicans say they never suggested war as an alternative. So I guess their solution would have to be a better deal. But is it possible to get a better deal right now?

The Republicans seem to assume they could force through a better deal if they were allowed to send in some tough-ass negotiators. (Donald Trump could do it, but he's too busy insulting Rosie O'Donnell and the like.) Problem is, it would probably take a Republican President to get 'er done. And the election is still quite a ways off. Do we even have that much time?

(Also, can they get a Republican elected?)

One of their objections to the deal is that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. Republicans point out if we reduce or eliminate sanctions, Iran would have more money to pursue its hobby.

To me, it sounds like limiting Iran's vexing behavior is a separate deal. First things first, I say. Nukes up front, terrorism later.

Because there's a fundamental difference.

Iran doesn't need to have the bomb (and they keep insisting they aren't even trying to make one). But they appear to have a driving need to turn the crank on the terror machine.

Mainly because they don't see it as a terror machine. Rather, it's a Holy War Against the West (America and Israel, mostly). This they are pledged to do. They might well claim Allah himself insists they man that crank day and night.

After all, Islam must be defended and bolstered and spread around the world. Folks who know this and want to help are often in the minority in their region and lack resources. Iran feels compelled to take up the slack and slip them a few bucks or the occasional shipment of arms.

Another Republican objection: They see the nuke deal as a temporary band-aid. They believe that as soon as those ten years clock down, Iran is virtually guaranteed to get the bomb. As if it were a prize for playing the game.

But I don't think there's anything in the deal that prevents the U.S. from reinstating sanctions as soon as time runs out. Further deals might well be in the offing.

Maybe in some future pact Iran will have to give up all nuclear facilities. We could make 'em go entirely Green: wind and solar power or nothing.

Also, we could simply cheat—if that's what it takes to prevent Iran from getting the bomb.

Nobody is going to be bound by a deal that guarantees Iran the bomb. Especially not Israel.

In the past Israel has bombed Iranian facilities thought to be furthering progress toward an atomic bomb. I doubt they would hesitate to do so in the future. The deal reached with Iran should, at the very least, give Israel time to prepare their inevitable assault.

And if we're willing to be tricky enough to end Iran's nuclear threat once and for all, here's a devious path:

Forget deals. Just double the sanctions every year until the Iranians go nuts and start shooting. Then we'd be free to react in what used to be called a nuclear spasm—and turn the whole country into a parking lot paved with radioactive green glass.

(Maybe by then ISIS will have the bomb. Does anybody wanna try negotiating with those assholes?)

Iran is what it is—and the problem it presents—because of the nonsensical ideas carried about in the heads of the people who inhabit the country.

(That goes for the U.S. as well, unfortunately. American noggins are packed with a competing set of nonsensical ideas.)

Ideas have no measurable mass, yet they are the very devil to lift. People know what they know and they can't be wrong. Everything they see proves them right.

It can get pretty messy.

[For more on how this mental situation complicates life on our planet, see the book What's Wrong With Us. Amazon Prime members should be able to borrow the Kindle ebook edition for free.]