It was obvious from the very beginning that the whole administration promise of “snapback” sanctions was a farce. The Iranians knew it. Hence their contempt for even the prospect of American pushback: two illegal missile launches conducted ostentatiously even before sanctions are lifted and before they receive their $150 billion in unfrozen assets early next year.
Why not? They know Obama will ignore, downplay, and explain away any violation, lest it jeopardize his transformative foreign-policy legacy.
It’s a legacy of fictional agreements. The proliferators and the polluters are not bound. By our own volition, we are.
Only Guantanamo remains. Within a month, one-sixth of the remaining prisoners will be released. Obama will not be denied.