Hillary Clinton raised eyebrows this month when she compared Vladimir Putin 's tactics in Ukraine to those of the Nazis . She was right , but there is an even more ominous similarity between the actions of Iran and those of pre-war Germany . On May 21 , 1935 , Adolf Hitler delivered his infamous `` peace '' speech . In his masterful history of Nazi Germany , `` The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich , '' William L. Shirer quotes the Fuhrer 's remarks at length : . `` Germany needs peace and desires peace . `` `` Germany has solemnly recognized and guaranteed France her frontiers . `` `` Germany has concluded a non-aggression pact with Poland . '' Shirer , a CBS Radio correspondent , called the address `` one of the cleverest and most misleading of his Reichstag orations this writer , who sat through most of them , ever heard him make . '' He observed the West seemed beguiled by the speech , noting the Times of London welcomed Hitler 's words `` with almost hysterical joy . '' `` The speech turns out to be reasonable , straightforward , and comprehensive , '' stated the Times editorial . `` No one who reads it with an impartial mind can doubt that the points of policy laid down by Herr Hitler may fairly constitute the basis of a complete settlement with Germany . '' Yet Hitler was lying to buy time . He would not bring peace , but a horrific war , annexing Austria , invading France and Poland , and ordering the extermination of six million Jews . Indeed , Hitler 's lies were apparent less than a year after the speech . On March 7 , 1936 , the Nazis marched into the Rhineland , the demilitarized zone between Germany and France , in violation of the Treaty of Versailles . If the West had confronted Hitler then , it could have forced him out of the Rhineland with a limited application of military force . Such history is worth noting in today 's showdown with Iran . Many in the West seem beguiled by the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani . But are they truly interested in peace , or buying time to build the Bomb ? `` Let me say loud and clear that peace is within reach , '' Rouhani told the U.N. General Assembly last September . `` Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran 's security and defense doctrine , and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions , '' Rouhani added . President Barack Obama praised Rouhani 's `` more moderate course , '' and The New York Times called Rouhani `` charming . '' By November 24 , Iran had successfully negotiated an interim nuclear deal with the P5+1 . The deal was widely lauded , especially by Iran . The `` Geneva deal means the surrender of big powers before the great nation of Iran , '' Rouhani said in January . No wonder the Iranians were so happy : -- Sanctions were eased , and `` Iran was given access to $ 550 million of its assets that are frozen overseas , '' noted Iran Watch . `` This is the first tranche of the $ 4.2 billion that Iran has been promised . '' -- The interim deal does not require Iran to dismantle a single centrifuge or stop enriching uranium to 3.5 % . -- Tehran has 18,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium , and some operate 15 times faster than older models. -- After years of work and massive financial investment , Iran currently has only enough enriched uranium to run its Bushehr Reactor for three months , notes Valerie Lincy of the Wisconsin Project On Nuclear Arms Control. -- Yet Iran now has enough enriched uranium to build six or seven nuclear warheads , Lincy adds . Americans want diplomacy to work -- as do we all -- but they worry that if the mullahs obtain a nuclear arsenal , it will be used to kill many . In January , we engaged polling firm McLaughlin & Associates to ask a series of questions of 1,000 likely U.S. voters . Among them : `` Do you agree or disagree with the following statement : 'If the world does not take decisive action , and the Iranian regime is permitted to build nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them , the Iranian regime will one day attempt to annihilate the State of Israel and bring about a Second Holocaust ' ? '' A stunning 80 % of Americans agreed . Only 16 % disagreed . The world is at a critical moment . President Obama must insist on a final deal that requires Iran to fully dismantle its illegal uranium enrichment capabilities , its heavy water plutonium facility in Arak , and its nuclear weapons development efforts . The President -- who never should have agreed to ease sanctions -- should also support congressional efforts and declare that if Iran refuses to truly give up its nuclear ambitions , then he will sign aggressive new sanctions to be imposed the moment the six-month period of the interim deal is complete . What 's more , he should significantly beef up U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf , and abandon efforts to slash our Army to pre-World War II levels . Right now , the mullahs do not take Obama seriously . They do not believe a serious U.S. military option is really `` on the table . '' The President must make them believe it and restore American credibility . `` Now you know how you get [ an ] agreement with Iran ? '' asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently . `` Not by relieving pressure but by adding pressure . Pressure is what brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first place , and only more pressure will get [ them ] to abandon their nuclear weapons program . Greater pressure on Iran will not make war more likely ; it will make war less likely -- because the greater the pressure on Iran and more credible the threat of force on Iran , the smaller the chance that force will ever have to be used . '' We can not say force wo n't be needed . But Netanyahu is right that our last best chance for a peaceful outcome is increased American pressure and resolve . The stakes are too high for anything less . Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion .
Rick Santorum and Joel C. Rosenberg believe that Iran is engaging in the same deception as Hitler did . They say that the President never should have agreed to ease sanctions . Greater pressure on Iran will make war less likely , they argue .