Tom Del Beccaro in The Washington Times

On War & Peace: Nuke deal solidifies Iran conventional military gains

Most of the attention related to the deal with Iran has focused on the nuclear restrictions. That focus, however, ignores an important aspect of the deal for Iran. The Obama-Iran deal allows Iran to solidify its conventional military gains in the Middle East--a victory for which they are willing to delay their nuclear ambitions.

A decade ago, while the borders of the Middle East were relatively secure, Iran's ambition to be the dominant power in the Middle East was perhaps best served by obtaining a nuclear weapon. Today, Iran has troops in Iraq, its long-time foe. It has sent troops and aid to support rebels in Yemen allied with Iran.

That's why the deal is great for Iran--and a bad deal for everyone else. An ascendant Iran on the ground in the Middle East threatens all of its neighbors in ways well beyond the threat of a nuclear weapon. Each country will now have to enter a conventional arms race in addition to considering acquiring nuclear weapons.

Source: Washington Times column for 2016 California Senate race Aug 4, 2015

On War & Peace: Mideast was more stable with U.S. troops in Iraq

A decade ago, the Middle East was far more stable than it is today. The United States had a major presence in the region. As a result, the borders of the countries of the Middle East were quite stable.

Today, there is quite a different story. Iraq is a war zone with fungible borders. The same can be said of Yemen and Syria. All three countries may still appear on the map, but full control within their historic borders does not belong to their governments. Of course, we cannot forget that the Islamic State, or ISIS, has militarily created its own state within the region at the expense of some of those other states--and the ISIS state borders also are ill-defined and changing.

Source: Washington Times column for 2016 California Senate race Aug 4, 2015

On Homeland Security: Terrorists believe in terrorism; we can't persuade them

Americans also need to recognize that it is human nature to try to explain--and hope to correct--others' actions through our own experiences and values. [But] Genghis Kahn ravaged a continent, not thinking he was "bad"--just being the person his culture trained him to be. Attila the Hun, Mao, and Stalin believed in their goals. No amount of civility or American values would have persuaded them to be decent or lay down their arms. If history tells us anything, amongst its lessons is the fact that there are people who are evil and will do anything for power. If we understand all of those lessons, we can also understand that when someone tells you who they are, why they are doing something violent, you should take them at face value-- especially if what they do is a common occurrence. In other words, we need to stop disbelieving the terrorists who fervently believe in their means. Source: Washington Times OpEd on 2016 California Senate race Jan 14, 2015

The above quotations are from Media coverage of political races in The Washington Times. Click here for other excerpts from Media coverage of political races in The Washington Times. Click here for other excerpts by Tom Del Beccaro. Click here for a profile of Tom Del Beccaro.
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