Showing Weakness 

During a White House press conference Friday, President Obama was asked about Russia's sale of advanced S-300 missile systems to Iran. The president did not use the opportunity to protest Russia's actions. Instead, Obama said that the Russians delayed the sale in 2009 "at our request" and added, "I'm, frankly, surprised that it held this long." 

As we reported last week, these missiles have been described as a "game changer" that could "render an airstrike on Tehran's nuclear weapons facilities nearly impossible." First Obama is paving the way to a nuclear Iran. Now he has just given Putin the green light to give Iran advanced missiles that will protect its nuclear weapons. 

Obama was also asked about Iranian demands that all sanctions be lifted immediately and whether he would release some or all of the frozen Iranian assets. Obama seemed open to releasing those funds, suggesting that the issue should be left to John Kerry's "creative negotiations." 

All too often those negotiations appear to be between Iran on one side of the table and apologists for Iran on the other side of the table. The Wall Street Journal reports that White House sources suggest the "immediate windfall to Iran could be between $30 and $50 billion." 

The president's comments stunned Israeli analysts. Remember that Obama has said that Iran's actions in the Middle East have nothing to do with his nuclear deal. But of course they are related. 

The missiles are meant to thwart any attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. Funds released from Iran's foreign assets will go to Hamas, Hezbollah or to the armada currently headed to Yemen with shipments of weapons. U.S. ships are now headed to those waters, hopefully authorized to do more than draw one of Obama's disappearing "red lines." 

Iran's aggression isn't happening in spite of these negotiations. It is happening because of the negotiations. Obama is broadcasting weakness and Tehran is flexing its muscles -- showing countries in the region that the United States is in retreat while Iran is rising.

By the way, Iran celebrated Army Day over the weekend. True to form, the celebrations featured lots of "Death to Israel, Death to America" chanting. General Hossein Salami, a top commander of the Revolutionary Guards, ruled out any nuclear inspections of Iranian military bases, denouncing such inspections as "occupation" and "humiliation." 

In addition, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, said yesterday that Western claims of Iran's nuclear weapons program were a "myth," adding "the source of threat is America itself." 

Speaking Of Enemies 

When Barack Obama took office, he immediately set out to transform U.S. foreign policy -- especially toward the Muslim world. In fact, his first interview as president was not with CNN or ABC or evenMSNBC, but with the Arab news outlet Al Arabiya. Not long after that, he started sending secret letters to the ayatollah and began planning his first major foreign policy speech in Cairo, Egypt. 

And what do we have to show for all this outreach to the Muslim world? The ayatollah calls us a "threat." Iranians are still chanting "Death to America." The Middle East is in flames. While ISIS controls large swaths of land from Syria to Libya, its tentacles of terror are increasingly threatening our homeland.

As we have reported, several terrorist plots have been foiled in recent weeks. The counterterrorism raids continued over the weekend with the arrests of six young Minnesota men yesterday. 

Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, Adnan Farah, Hanad Mustafe Musse, Guled Ali Omar, Abdirahman Yasin Daud and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah are charged with attempting to travel to Syria to wage jihad with ISIS. Continuing what must be an amazing coincidence, all of the men are Muslims. 

According to a new Rasmussen poll, voters aren't feeling reassured by all the outreach to the Muslim world. For example:
 

• 52% believe our "relations with the Islamic world are worse today than they were five years ago." Only 12% think they are better. 
   
• 49% believe Muslims around the world view America as an enemy. 
   
• And while our politically correct leaders continue to insist that the "war on terror" has nothing to do with Islam, 75% voters would like Islamic leaders to do more to promote peace and combat violence. 

  Faithful Unto Death 

  Yesterday, ISIS released a video that reportedly showed the execution of 30 Ethiopian Christians. Fifteen were shot at point-blank range, while the other 15 were beheaded. These men had been given the opportunity to convert or die, and they remained faithful even to the point of death. 

  In its video, ISIS says that every Christian in the world will be forced to make this choice: Convert, pay a tax or die. Obama can deny it all he wants, but ISIS is waging a religious war to purge the world of infidels. 

  I'm relieved that the FBI arrested those six men yesterday, and I'm equally relieved they were planning to go Syria. I fear it is only a matter of time before radical Islamists answer the call to jihad by massacring Christians or Jews at a church or synagogue here in America. 

  As I pondered the choice facing the Ethiopian Christians, I couldn't help but feel that their deaths should convict us in the West. We must be more courageous in standing against religious persecution.

  While I know all of us hope we would have the same courage as our martyred brothers, I can't help but wonder if the West can muster the courage to defend Judeo-Christian civilization once again.