In today’s episode of #ShockingNotShocking with the Obama Administration, the Obama State Department has finally just admitted what most of us already knew — but, until now, the administration had oh-so-vehemently denied.
State Dept: US used plane with $400M in cash as “leverage” to ensure Iran released prisoners https://t.co/hfXb06Sjtk pic.twitter.com/kJnvyVG7CX
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) August 18, 2016
State Dept: $400M cash payment to Iran withheld until US prisoners were released. https://t.co/2tF3nRK7i5
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) August 18, 2016
This after the president himself said, just two weeks ago, that to suggest that suggestion the $400 million payment was ransom for the hostages “defies logic.” Yup.Well, here’s some logic defying for you:
As CNN (shockingly) reports:
The US used a plane filled with $400 million in cash intended for Iran as “leverage” to ensure that American prisoners were released by Tehran, a State Department spokesman said Thursday.
“Leverage” — an obfuscatory word for “ransom”? Anyone?
The money was held up because of concern Iran would not come through on its agreement to release the prisoners earlier this year, spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby insisted the money was not a quid pro quo for the hostage release, explaining that Tehran ultimately would have received the money, separate from the prisoner release.
Yeah, so now that the State Department is admitting they lied before about this, we’re now supposed to believe them on their latest spin? How do you think that’s gonna go over?
@Brandonkelly151 @AP And they wouldn’t release the prisoners unless we paid them. It was ransom money.
— boringfileclerk (@boringfileclerk) August 18, 2016
@cnnbrk Leverage? Can they think of any our words to water down the Ransom? @jaketapper @wolfblitzer @POTUS @chucktodd @mitchellreports
— DanME (@DanME) August 18, 2016
@cnnbrk but it wasn’t a ransom lol
— Gregory Siegelman (@GregSiegelman) August 18, 2016
@AP_Politics what happened to a nation who refused to negotiate with terrorists?
— ••••Cailee•••• (@18Cailee12) August 18, 2016
@cnnbrk State Department lied shouldn’t be a surprise … they learn from their leaders!
— E Kelly Taylor (@ekellytaylor) August 18, 2016
@cnnbrk He lied.
— Tom Burgess (@SecaFuels) August 18, 2016
@AP So it was a ransom after all. Why did they lie?
— boringfileclerk (@boringfileclerk) August 18, 2016
@AP_Politics So does that mean we were LIED to AGAIN?
— csmartin33 (@csmartin33) August 18, 2016
@AP_Politics This story has legs and doesnt need a stool like poor Health HRC. RANSOM is what it is. #HillarysHealth
— John Q Public (@QPublic8) August 18, 2016
@AP_Politics covering for @BarackObama again! The HOSTAGES SAID THEY COULD NOT GO UNTIL MONEY ARRIVED!
IT WAS RANSOM LYING PRESS!
— willdit (@willdit) August 18, 2016
Coincidentally, Col. West posted a story on this topic just hours ago. He noted that regardless of what particular spin the Obama administration puts on the payment — ransom or “they would have received it anyway” — it all still begs the question:
So the obvious question is who made the decision that we needed to give Iran anything? Why is it that previous presidential administrations have not released funds back to Iran?
Why did Barack Hussein Obama feel Iran, as an Islamist theocratic state, which is the number one state sponsor of terrorism, deserved these funds? And if the top priority of the Obama administration was to get our Americans home, then get them home – and don’t pay off the Iranians. It’s not about what Obama terms this exchange, it’s what the Iranians and the rest of the world see, those optics. And the optics are that the Iranians got control of the $400 million once we got control of our citizens – which is the pure and simple definition of a ransom payment.
Optics indeed. Something this administration — the same one who golfs and parties while the nation burns, yeah, that one — doesn’t seem to give a rat’s patootie about. Never mind that the perception of the world is now that, yes, the United States does negotiate with terrorists — which puts a target on every one of our backs.
It seems many of us are smart enough to know we’re being lied to and endangered constantly by both the current administration and the woman who wishes to lead the next one.
What’s perplexing is that so many seem to know but do not care.
@AP_Politics @AP Really when are the american people going to get tired of all the lies??? What messed up administration…
— Mark Enz (@Enzstarr) August 18, 2016
@AP_Politics @AP Makes you wonder. They have really tested the will of America, the way they lied to us. People can’t take this much longer
— Paul Sandroni (@Paulsandroni) August 18, 2016
Indeed.
