John Kerry: Some sanctions relief money will go to terrorism
Power Line - Thursday January 21, 2016
by Paul Mirengoff
John Kerry admitted the obvious today. Speaking at Davos, he said that some of the $55 billion (his figure) in sanctions relief money for Iran will be used to promote terrorism:
I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC [Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.] or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists. You know, to some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented.
Actually, I doubt that any “component” of it can be prevented now that the deal has been consummated. The money will be in Iran’s hands to dispose of as it pleases.
Citing internal demands on the Iranian government to develop the country, Kerry asserted that “there is no way they can succeed in what they want to do if they are very busy funding a lot of terrorism.” But by the same token, there is no way the mullahs can succeed in what they want to do to promote terrorism if they dedicate the “found” money almost exclusively to developing the country.
The regime will divide the funds between the two objectives (and others) as it sees fit, and Kerry doesn’t know what the allocation will be. All he knows is that, in his words, “some of it will end up in the hands of” terrorist groups.
Kerry went on to say that “if we catch them funding terrorism, they are going to have a problem with the United States Congress and other people, obviously.” Significantly, he didn’t say Iran would have a problem with the Obama administration.
Nor will it. By saying that the IRGC and other such outfits “are labeled terrorists,” he signaled that the administration is prepared to apologize for them, if need be.
Kerry also said, “we are confident that this will not result in an increase somehow in the threat to any partner or any friend in the region.” Nonsense. The cash that Kerry concedes will go to the IRGC will be used to advance the radical revolutionary interests of Iran. Many of these interests conflict directly with our partners and friends in the region; indeed, the interest is to topple or (in the case of Israel) obliterate them.
Unless the increased funds are devoured by “fraud, waste, abuse,” of course they will increase the threat to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and any partners we might have left in Iraq and Syria. The Israelis and the Saudis are under no illusion about this. Neither, I suspect, are John Kerry and his boss.
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