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I wonder if all the attention being paid to ISIS these days has the Iranians feeling a bit left out of the international headlines? While everyone else was busy delving into the affairs in Paris and San Bernardino, Iran took the opportunity to test fire another Ghadr-110 ballistic missile, a model allegedly capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and with a range sufficient to hit anyone in the region. By all accounts, the test was a success. (Fox News) Iran has carried out a new medium range ballistic missile test in breach of two United Nations Security Council resolutions,...

Unbelievable In Obamaland, words have no meaning. We know this. Illegal Immigrants aren’t here illegally, the Islamic State isn’t Islamic, and affordable healthcare isn’t affordable. Now we’re learning that deals aren’t really deals. Actual “deals” are two-sided affairs and, according to the National Review, the President’s horrible nuclear deal with Iran doesn’t really qualify. That’s because Iranian leaders were never required to sign the “deal,” which is not legally binding in any way. According to the State Department, it’s simply a collection of “political promises.”

President Obama didn't require Iranian leaders to sign the nuclear deal that his team negotiated with the regime, and the deal is not "legally binding," his administration acknowledged in a letter to Representative Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) obtained by National Review. "The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not a treaty or an executive agreement, and is not a signed document," wrote Julia Frifield, the State Department assistant secretary for legislative affairs, in the November 19 letter. Frifield wrote the letter in response to a letter Pompeo sent Secretary of State John Kerry, in which he observed that the...

This MDB is dedicated to the memory of USMC pilot Captain (ret.) David Ganz, a man of honor and gallantry and a decorated officer, who passed away last week. What Is The "Iran Nuclear Deal?" What is mistakenly perceived as an agreement under the title of "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (JCPOA), that was concluded on July 14 in Vienna, and celebrated by the White House as an "historic agreement," is neither a contract nor even a real agreement between Iran and the P5+1. It is a set of understandings and disputes compiled into a single document. For example, the...

The Daily Beast picked up an article from the Associated Press this week concerning some celebratory activities taking place among our new business partners in Iran. (Thanks, John Kerry!) The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was addressing some students during an important anniversary jubilee and the usual calls of Death to America were filling the air. But now that we’re all warm and friendly with Ali, (can I call you Ali?) he seems to want to put a softer edge on his public persona so he cleared up the widely held misconceptions about what his people mean by that. Iranian Supreme...

Hosted by DENISE SIMON, the Senior Research / Intelligence Analyst for Foreign and Domestic Policy for numerous flag officers and intelligence organizations. GUESTS: WILLIAM PALUMBO & ANDREA SHEA KING Hour One: Denise interviews William Palumbo of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens on the topic of the House of Bribes, the investigative study and report of the back channel people who played the major power roles of the Iranian nuclear deal. The report is found for deeper reading at http://usatransnationalreport.org/wp/iran-lobby/. And in hour 2, Andrea Shea King of the www.usatransnationalreport.org spent some time with Denise where we attempted to call some...

Sen. Ted Cruz talks about the Debt Ceiling (video) Sen. Ted Cruz says Republican leadership should make sure it receives “meaningful concessions” in the upcoming fight over raising the debt ceiling. But he’s not holding his breath. “Unfortunately, Republican leadership approaches every battle preemptively surrendering saying we can get nothing,” Cruz tells The Daily Signal. The deadline to raise the debt ceiling is Nov. 3. President Barack Obama says he won’t negotiate on this issue but Cruz says that isn’t the history of debt ceiling fights. “The last 55 times Congress has raised the debt ceiling it has attached...

One of the biggest mysteries of the Iran nuclear deal has been solved — but the answer may complicate the efforts of the US and its allies to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. On the same day that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran and a US-led group of six countries, Iran reached a "roadmap" agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that would resolve the agency's longstanding concerns over Tehran's nuclear-weaponization program. Under the agreement, the IAEA would investigate Iran's past weaponization work and any possible continuation of those activities prior...

When President Obama meets in Washington November 9 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, I would imagine Netanyahu's main concern will be to find out exactly what the U.S. means by "infringement" as it applies to the Iran nuclear agreement. What exactly will the U.S. do when, not if, Iran violates the deal? What if Israel and the U.S. disagree as to whether there has been a violation? Former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Zalman Shoval, spoke with me last week following his address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. Given the president's reluctance...

At the United Nations General Assembly Thursday in New York City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his warning about Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb. Considering the recent passage of the nuclear agreement with Iran, the prime minister’s comments were especially powerful. “Iran is setting up dozens of terror cells,” Netanyahu said. “Imagine what they will do after the sanctions are lifted.” “Unmuzzled,” Iran will “go on the prowl, devouring more and more prey,” he said. In the wake of the nuclear deal, Netanyahu remarked, Iran is spending billions on weapons and satellites. “Do you think Iran is doing that...

Putting aside the debate over whether Iran, under the proposed nuclear deal with the US, will have the ability to create nuclear weapons in the near future, let’s for a moment discuss the irrefutable risk this deal imposes right now; it funds further Iranian aggression in the Middle East. If the deal is approved, previously imposed sanctions on Iran will be lifted; Iran can resume selling oil on the international market, $150 billion dollars in frozen assets will be released, and there will be no further restrictions on Iran purchasing arms. And if that wasn’t enough the deal removes Qassim...

Why on earth would Republicans do that?” That is a question I’ve been asked at least a dozen times since illustrating that the GOP has played a cynical game in connection with President Obama’s Iran deal. “Follow the money” is a common answer to questions about political motivation. It may not explain everything in this case, but it is certainly relevant. This spring, Republican leadership colluded with the White House and congressional Democrats to enact a law — the Corker-Cardin Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act — that guaranteed Obama would be authorized to lift sanctions against Iran (the main objective...

Dozens of House Republican lawmakers are making a late stab at pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to abandon the filibuster on legislation to block the nuclear deal with Iran. A total of 57 House lawmakers signed on to a letter led by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) telling McConnell that blocking the deal was “simply so consequential” that it demanded a change to the Senate’s rules, known as invoking the "nuclear option." “Our request to eliminate the filibuster for some votes simply underscores that in a democracy the majority should decide,” they wrote. “The super-majority now required to advance legislation...

Last week, the Congress began debate on President Obama’s nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many questions have been raised about the wisdom of the deal, including the lack of verifiability of the inspection regime, the release of over $150 billion that will help fund its ongoing terrorist activities, the secret codicils that the United States is not privy to, the lifting of sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program, and the bellicose words of Iran’s supreme leader, who has continued to openly reject the terms of the deal as the president moves forward with its implementation. As expected,...

After getting 42 votes in support of Barack Obama’s deal with Iran on nuclear weapons, Harry Reid led two successful filibusters of the disapproval bill that would have gone down to a veto anyway. The House easily passed its version of the disapproval bill, with a handful of Democratic votes to provide a wide — but not veto-proof — bipartisan margin. Stymied twice on getting an up-or-down vote for the bill before the 60-day window expires (at least by the White House’s calculation), Mitch McConnell plans to force Democrats into a potentially embarrassing vote on Thursday in an attempt...

A disturbing report in the Washington Times underscores one of the great fears of the US intelligence community; that Iran could team up with North Korea to enrich uranium in secret and even build a bomb of their own. We know that back in the 1990's, North Korea sold Iran some hardware to help start their enrichment program, so there is some kind of relationship there that exists below the surface. Could that relationship be extended to include cooperation in building a nuclear weapon? CIA Director John Brennan acknowledged Tuesday his agency is monitoring whether Iran may try to assist its...

What a coinkydink! Just in case you were worried that, with Obama’s Iran nuclear deal in full effect, Iran would start lying (and of course we would believe them) about their nuclear capabilities: Don’t worry! That’s not the case at all. As it turns out, they were lying to our side even during the negotiations. Remember how Iran’s uranium reserves were supposed to be very low, and they would soon have to import uranium just to meet their entirely peaceful nuclear energy needs? You know, it’s the funniest thing:

A leftover from yesterday. Riddle me this: If he agrees with Cruz et al. that Obama hasn’t complied with the Corker bill by submitting the secret side deals with Iran to Congress, why are he and McConnell proceeding with any votes this week? Why not stand on that point? E.g., “The Corker bill says Congress has 60 days to vote once the president submits the full agreement. He hasn’t, so we won’t.” Force that issue before the public. Voting on the deal anyway when you’re claiming that objection is like running a play in football and then asking for...

Congress is finally having its say on the Iran deal. It will be an elaborate charade, however, because, having first gone to the U.N., President Obama has largely drained congressional action of relevance. At the Security Council, he pushed through a resolution ratifying the deal, thus officially committing the United States as a nation to its implementation — in advance of any congressional action. The resolution abolishes the entire legal framework, built over a decade, underlying the international sanctions against Iran. A few months from now, they will be gone. The script is already written: The International Atomic Energy Agency,...

In her speech, Clinton predicted that Iran will “test the next president” and “see how far they can bend the rules” of the JCPA agreement. If there is one thing Hillary knows all about, it is how far one can go to the bend the rules. Demonstrating her profile in cowardice, Hillary Clinton waited to explain in detail her support for President Obama's disastrous nuclear deal with Iran until it no longer mattered politically what she said. She held back until Obama had secured enough support from Democrats to sustain a veto of a resolution of disapproval of the deal...