How Far Can Iran Push Obama?

In his State of the Union address, President Obama went to great lengths to assure the country that the U.S. had, by far, the most powerful and feared military in the world. But as true as that may be, those words sounded hollow at a time when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was holding 10 U.S. Navy sailors in captivity for breaching coastal waters. If our military was so feared, why did Iran feel they could put these sailors in detention without risking annihilation?

The answer is simple. The U.S. military may be capable of destroying any other nation’s fighting forces, but our commander-in-chief is, as Chris Christie put it, a “feckless weakling.” Iran knows that Obama isn’t going to do anything that might jeopardize his precious nuclear deal. If he’s willing to unfreeze billions of dollars so that Iran can keep funding Palestinian terror groups, he’s not going to ruin his legacy over a handful of sailors.

Iran, to be sure, does not want the deal to go up in smoke, either. That’s why they released the sailors early Wednesday morning and sent them on their way. But this is the latest evidence that Iran intends to keep flexing its muscles. To keep pushing boundaries. Each one of these incidents – including ballistic missile tests – accomplishes two things: One, it plays well with the hardliners, and two, it lets them determine how far they can push American resolve.

“Our enemies don’t fear us,” said Sen. Ted Cruz. He said the incident was a “manifestation of the weakness of Obama’s foreign policy.”

You can say that again. But on the other hand, the deal as written isa manifestation of that weakness. Over months and months, this administration caved to the Iranians, giving them everything they wanted in an attempt to shut down their ambitions to pursue nuclear weaponry. By the time the final deal was announced, many critics said that Iran would have a clear path to the bomb within the next fifteen years. Some, noting Tehran’s negotiated place in the inspections, wonder if the deal will even stop them from building that bomb right under the noses of the United Nations.

This rogue country does not want to abide by international rule. They have masterfully put themselves above the law, and they have only been able to do that because President Obama let them. He’s not just gambling with his own approval ratings, though; he’s gambling with the lives of millions. And every time Iran pulls one of their stunts, it just reinforces the fact that Obama is unwilling to act.