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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Plans set for 30th annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki Vigil ... How'd you get into theater? 'The stage doors were open' ... Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... Plans set for 30th annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki Vigil ... How'd you get into theater? 'The stage doors were open' ... Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: The enemy of my enemy is my … frenemy? Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Apr. 6, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré Posted Apr. 6, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” A nice phrase, though it never fails to give me pause as I sort out the players. And in today’s world, it’s complicated. For example: In Iraq we have joined with Iran to fight ISIS. The Iranians have Revolutionary Guard troops on the ground and we are in the hunt from the air. Meanwhile we have joined the Saudis in Yemen in the fight against the Houthi, Iranian-backed rebels, who have driven the pro-western government, headed by Abd Rabbi Mansour Hadi, from the country and are in the process of turning Yemen into a political and tribal stew. There’s more: Our secretary of state, John Kerry (et al.), has spent countless hours in Switzerland, sitting across a table from the Iranians, trying to construct an agreement that will assure world governments that Iran will not have the capability to quickly develop a nuclear weapon. Negotiations have been civil, though quietly adversarial and endlessly complex (trust but verify in all its permutations). For Kerry it’s been the equivalent of dragging a wet sack of concrete up a steep driveway. Meanwhile, happy to hold his coat while sniping from the cheap seats are the Republicans. Forty-seven GOP senators wrote a letter to the “leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” reminding them that they, members of the U.S. Congress, will be the final arbiters of any deal and Iran should not be too optimistic about the ongoing negotiations. The tone of their letter is best captured in the condescending sentence, “You may not fully understand our Constitutional system …” Almost simultaneously, the Republican leadership in the House invited, absent any consultation with the White House, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to speak before Congress, thus providing him a platform to aggressively make the case that any negotiated deal with Iran regarding their nuclear program is merely paving the path to their acquisition of a bomb. Like the Republican letter, his invitation was one more tactic to upend the negotiations. But here is the essence of what has been taking place: granted, Iran is our frenemy, but if the deal ultimately fails, or if the Congressional hawks manage to nullify the agreement, what do they offer in its place? Implicit in Netanyahu’s speech (though never articulated) was the fact that he was advocating war. He offered nothing else. But in the end, is war the best we can do? Are the conservatives, along with the prime minister, suggesting that the only alternative is to bomb Iran to the point where they yield and stop all nuclear activity? That’s pure fantasy. Of course, the neocon hawks remain silent while ignoring the limited efficacy of actually dropping bunker-busting munitions on Iran in the hopes of crippling their nuclear program. It’s political and moral malfeasance to say with certainty that they know what the outcome of war with Iran will be. What armed conflict will do is halt all diplomatic engagement and harden the mullah’s resolve to obtain a deliverable nuclear weapon. Tangentially, there is one other meta-question: Our president and the Congress have drawn an unwavering line in the sand, reiterating that Iran will not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. Fine. But why wasn’t a similar line drawn by G.W. and company when North Korea was on the cusp of going nuclear on his watch? For decades, North Korea has threatened the annihilation of South Korea, its language not dissimilar from that voiced by Iran toward Israel. North Korea is a closed, rogue state with more than 200,000 of its citizens held prisoner in a gulag of concentration camps, many imprisoned for political crimes. Often, if one family member is charged, (absent any due process), the entire multigenerational family is incarcerated, doomed to live under the most inhumane conditions for an undetermined period. For many it’s a death sentence. As this column was being written, the Iran negotiations were concluded and an agreement struck with the caveat that the devil will, of course, be in the details. But first, how Congress reacts (both Republicans and Democrats) will be more than instructive. Listen for the drum beats of discontent (even war) and hope they are underwhelming. Otherwise, for all concerned, this will not end well. Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Apr. 6, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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