Conservative media seized on the fourteenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to stoke fears that the Iran nuclear agreement will create new opportunities for terrorist attacks. But experts have pointed out the deal keeps in place “sanctions related to Iran's human rights abuses and support for groups linked to terrorism,” and that terrorists would actually benefit more if the agreement were rejected.
Conservative Media Use 9/11 Anniversary To Stoke Fears That Iran Nuclear Deal Will Lead To Terrorism
Written by Cydney Hargis
Published
Right-Wing Media Link Tragedy Of 9/11 To Historic Nuclear Agreement With Iran, Claiming It Will Increase Terrorism
Dana Loesch: On 9/11, Iran Nuclear Deal “Pushes Congress To Give Billion[s] To The Largest State Sponsor Of Terror.” Conservative talk radio host Dana Loesch invoked the Iran nuclear deal in a September 11 tweet that accused the Obama administration of “push[ing] Congress to give billion[s] to the largest state sponsor of terror” on the anniversary of the 9/11 attack:
As we remember 9/11 the administration pushes congress to give billion$ to the largest state sponsor of terror. Great way to honor victims.
-- Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 11, 2015
[Twitter, 9/11/15]
Dan McLaughlin: Iran Deal Continues “Era Of Tolerating Terror-Sponsoring Tyrannies.” RedState.com editor Dan McLaughlin invoked the September 11 anniversary to claim that the nuclear deal means “we'll actively subsidize Iran” and “tolerat[e] terror-sponsoring tyrannies”:
We thought, in the days after 9/11, that the era of tolerating terror-sponsoring tyrannies was ending. Today we'll actively subsidize Iran.
-- Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) September 11, 2015
[Twitter, 9/11/15]
Washington Examiner: The Iran Deal “Confirms The Return To A Pre-9/11 Mindset.” The Washington Examiner wrote “As the United States commemorates the 14th anniversary of September 11, Obama and Congressional Democrats seek to force passage of” the Iran nuclear deal, which returns the country “to a pre-9/11 mindset”:
How sad it is that, as the United States commemorates the 14th anniversary of September 11, Obama and Congressional Democrats seek to force passage of an agreement the majority of Congress and the American people reject. Obama may see success, but the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action instead symbolizes Washington's failure to understand the threats America faces. In effect, Obama's faith in diplomacy and our enemies' goodwill confirms the return to a pre-9/11 mindset prioritizing hope over change.
[...]
When it comes to terrorism, Obama and Kerry wear the same blinders that Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright once did: They see terrorism as rooted in grievance rather than ideology. It's a comforting conceit, because if grievance is the problem, then diplomacy and incentive can resolve it. [The Washington Examiner, 9/11/15]
Fox's Eric Bolling: The Iran Nuclear Deal Is “A Deadly Mistake,” Did We Learn Nothing On September 11? In a September 11 opinion piece for Foxnews.com, host Eric Bolling asked “Did we learn nothing when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center ... 14 years ago today?” and pronounced the Iran nuclear deal “a deadly mistake.” Bolling added “Handing over an initial $100 billion to the regime that sponsors terror around the world is insane”:
Handing over an initial $100 billion to the regime that sponsors terror around the world is insane!
Then allowing them to sell another $100 billion per year in oil is equally insane.
That as they telegraph their hatred for us makes zero sense. Zero!
They lie. They cheat. They finance Hezbollah, Hamas and factions of Al Qaeda. And they finance these hate groups with the goal of killing Americans.
What genius decided giving people who despise us more money to kill us was a good idea?
This is bigger than Obama's legacy. This is bigger than Democrats circling the wagons around their ideology.
America will be hit with Iranian financed terror if we don't stop this deal... now.
It's common sense folks. It's lacking in D.C. and this time around it will cost us American lives.
And by the way, did we learn nothing when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and Pennsylvania -- killing 3,000 innocent Americans exactly 14 years ago today? [Foxnews.com,9/11/15]
On Fox, Rudy Giuliani Fearmongered That The U.S. Is “In More Danger” Now Than Before 9/11. On the September 11 edition of Fox News' Fox and Friends, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani claimed “We're in more danger and more denial than we were in before September 11,” and said the “president is doing some kind of an agreement” with “the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world”:
RUDY GIULIANI: Right now we're in more danger and more denial than we were in before September 11th.
[...]
GIULIANI: And we have an Iranian regime that is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. We're in the middle of the president doing some kind of an agreement that probably is going to happen. And yesterday the Ayatollah sticks his finger right in the president's eye, by saying that in 25 years there will be no Israel. It is astounding to me that we're making an agreement with a mass murderer and expect to keep this country safe. We're helping to create an Iranian empire in the middle east. Iran, Iraq.
STEVE DOOCY: You know why we're doing it? Because the president -- the meter is running on his presidency, and he's got to establish a legacy. And that's part of it --
GIULIANI: The legacy he's going to leave us is an Iranian empire.
AINSLEY EARHARDT: That 21 percent of Americans support. The majority of Americans don't even want this deal.
GIULIANI: When you have Iran controlling Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, you create a Shiite Persian empire. Then you have ISIS, you have Al Qaeda. The reality is you now have an enemy more diverse and more cunning in what they're willing to do in terms of these so-called lone wolf atacks. Which, they're not lone wolf attacks at all. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/11/2015]
Experts Say Terrorists Would Benefit More From Rejection Of The Deal
Deal Doesn't Lift Sanctions Related To Iran's Support For Terrorist Groups. The Los Angeles Times explained how U.S. sanctions related to “support for groups linked to terrorism will stay in place” under the deal:
The United States will rescind most of its banking sanctions, allowing Iranian banks to reconnect to the global financial system, and will lift restrictions on various Iranian industries, as well as trade in gold and other precious metals. Nearly 750 companies, individuals, aircraft and ships will be removed from U.S. blacklists.
Sanctions related to Iran's human rights abuses and support for groups linked to terrorism will stay in place. A U.N. arms embargo will lift in five years, and restrictions on the transfer of ballistic missile technology will remain for eight years, although the White House said the U.S. and its Persian Gulf allies would step up efforts to block Iranian military shipments or other support to its proxies. [Los Angeles Times, 7/16/15]
Center On Arms Control And Non-Proliferation: If The Deal Is Rejected And Iran Obtains A Bomb, Terrorist Allies Would Benefit. The Center On Arms Control And Non-Proliferation warned that “if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, the nuclear deterrent that Iran would extend to its terrorist allies would pose an even greater threat. This deal eliminates that threat, preventing a dramatically worse security situation.” [Center On Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, 8/3/15]