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Oppose the Deal on Iran
(Algemeiner) Alan M. Dershowitz - The U.S. is leading the noble efforts to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough to prevent Iran from having the capacity to develop nuclear weapons. Yet the deal offered to Iran - to soften some sanctions in return for a promise by the mullahs to preserve the status quo with regard to their nuclear program - does not serve the interest of peace. The understandable concern, expressed by Israeli, French, and Saudi leaders, is that the Iranian leadership is playing for time - that they want to make insignificant concessions in exchange for significant reductions in the sanctions. These leaders, and many experienced nuclear and diplomatic experts, fear that a bad deal would allow the Iranians to inch closer to nuclear weapons capacity while strengthening their faltering economy. Were Iran to use the current diplomatic efforts as a cover to buy time to make a preventive military attack unrealistic, this would indeed be our "Chamberlain moment," a replication of the time when the idealistic but naive British prime minister made a bad deal with the Nazis in a desperate but futile effort to avoid deploying the military option against Hitler's growing power. To weaken the sanctions regime now, in exchange for a promise to maintain the status quo, would be bad diplomacy, poor negotiation and a show of weakness precisely when a show of strength is called for. The leadership of the pro-Israel community, both in the U.S. and Israel, have shown rare unity around the issue of not weakening the sanctions merely in exchange for the promise of a nuclear standstill from the Iranians.