I struggle to be less provocative than to suggest the president of the United States is rooting for terrorists who would harm us, but consider the evidence. Four Americans, including a Christian pastor and a reporter, have been left behind in Iran. The president specifically said they were not part of negotiations that not only lift an arms embargo against Iran, but also let it continue to grow its nuclear capabilities.

At the same time, the president has given Cuba just about everything it wants in order to improve relations with that regime. Cuba, like Iran, has funded terrorists and terrorist organizations.

Joanne Chesimard killed a New Jersey state trooper named Werner Foerster during a traffic stop in 1973. Though she received a life sentence, Chesimard fled to Cuba, where she has been taking refuge from the American legal system ever since. She joined Charlie Hill, who in 1971 killed a state trooper in New Mexico and then hijacked a plane to Cuba. These two cop killers join almost 70 other American murderers, bank robbers and others sought by the FBI who have taken up residence in Cuba to avoid the American legal system.

Just like with Iran, Barack Obama did not make his dealing with Cuba contingent on the return of these and other American fugitives. There are cop-killers, child abusers, drug lords and major fraudsters who have killed, abused and stolen from Americans all living in Cuba. Obama does not care.

Contrast Cuba and Iran with Bowe Bergdahl. According to his fellow soldiers, Bergdahl wanted off his base in Afghanistan in search of the Taliban. His colleagues believed Bergdahl wanted to join the Taliban. Soldiers died trying to find Bergdahl.
Obama would not demand that Iran return four Americans in exchange for the lifting of an arms embargo. He would not demand the return of cop killers from Cuba in exchange for normalized relations. But he was perfectly willing and happy to exchange five members of the Taliban for one deserter. Oh, and by the way, those five members of the Taliban are now gone and plotting the deaths of more Americans.

Time and time again, when given the opportunity to side with American national interests or the interests of those who want to kill us, Obama bows to the bad guys and sides with them. The media and Democrats (but I repeat myself) cheer him on hoping that doing something differently will lead to different, better results. The results will certainly be different, but only better for the bad guys.

As one analyst said of the Iranian deal, only Tehran lit fireworks and had street parties after the deal was announced. And what of that deal? Just two years ago, Obama said Iran should not get to keep building nuclear facilities underground. Now, not only do they get to keep building their nuclear capacity underground, but we are giving them newer equipment to make refining weapons-grade material easier.

On top of that, we have structured an arrangement with Iran so that our weapons inspectors will tell Iran where they want to inspect, and Iran gets three weeks before they have to let the inspectors into the facility. Three weeks is enough time to move any incriminating evidence. But it is actually worse than that.

Under the terms of the deal, when inspectors notify Iran that they wish to inspect a location, Iran gets to appeal to a commission of Americans and Europeans. The commission is stacked with Europeans who will be the deciding vote on whether the inspections can proceed. The deal bakes in a three-week delay on the commission's response.

Iran also gets an infusion of capital assets to its banks. It gets the arms embargo lifted. It gets updated and modern nuclear refining capacity. When next the world realizes the Iranians are funding terrorists and building nuclear weapons, we will face an Iran that is recapitalized and rearmed.

For all that, Obama could not even get four Americans returned from captivity. The president has never met an enemy of this nation he did not want to help.

To find out more about Erick Erickson, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.