John Kerry Respects Fatwas

While Washington and the mainstream media flies into paroxysms of rage over Sen. Tom Cotton’s open letter to the ayatollahs, John Kerry is flying around the world singing the praise of “fatwas.”

When trying to explain why he felt he could trust the ayatollahs to respect an agreement with the United States, Kerry explained that the Supreme Leader of Iran—note the respect—had issued a fatwa in which he said that he did not want to acquire nuclear weapons.

There, that solves the problem. Don't you think?

It should have been major news. It was not.

Kerry said this:

As you all know, Iran says it doesn’t want a nuclear weapon, and that is a very welcome statement that the Supreme Leader has, in fact, incorporated into a fatwa. And we have great respect – great respect – for the religious importance of a fatwa. 

And they’re worrying about Sen. Cotton.

William Kristol exposes Kerry’s pathetic naivete:

Given the history of fatwas issued by Iranian leaders in the past, Kerry's "great respect ... for the religious importance of a fatwa" seems curious. The most notorious of these fatwas was issued in 1989 and called for the death of Salman Rushdie for his novel The Satanic Verses. Although various reports have surfaced over the years regarding the status of that fatwa, as recently as last month a senior Iranian cleric affirmed that it is still in effect. Other fatwas over the years have called for things as varied as the death of Jerry Falwell to prohibitions against members of the opposite sex chatting online.

Secretary Kerry's reference to the "religious importance" of Iran's purported anti-nuclear fatwa seems particularly significant given the vehemence with which Kerry and President Obama deny any connection between the Islamic State and true Islam. Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran as the White House and State Department routinely refer to it, is the most significant state sponsor of terror in the world according to the State Department and has been on the list for over 30 years. Yet the Obama administration exhibits no reticence when it comes to ascribing "religious importance" to a fatwa issued by those in Iran who claim to represent Islam.

Need we mention that fatwas can be lifted by the stroke of an ayatollah’s pen.

The administration’s conspicuously reverential attitude towards Ayatollah Khamenei and all things Islamic contrasts markedly with its contempt for Israel and its prime minister.