We Don’t Need No Stinking Rhetoric
Note to esteemed members of Congress; Georges Santayana said it best, “those who forget history are condemned to repeat it “ So, given that on the foreign policy front much of your attention is focused on the Persian Gulf region, specifically Iraq, where history is being made every day let’s ask that you keep recent history there in mind as you consider U.S. policy towards neighboring Iran.
Hmm, let’s see, Iraq; a country that the United States chose to invade when it did not have to, in a war of choice, not of necessity. It did so under a rationale that turned out to be invalid, or as a kid today would say, bogus. Said war has not only inflamed Arab nations and large numbers of Muslims worldwide it has also cost the Untied States critical international support among other Western nations and actually strengthened al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups.
So, given all that I don’t think it is too much to ask that both sides of the aisle cool their jets and rhetoric on the subject of Iran’s nuclear program. There are lots of silly things being said. One might expect that from Republicans, if only to stay on message with the executive branch but Democrats?
In January Sen. Bayh (D-IN) introduced a resolution that started with “Iran is precipitating a grave nuclear crisis with the international community that directly impacts the national security of the United States.” Really? The last time I checked it was the United States that was saying that all options were on the table, including military force.
Congresswoman Watson (D-CA) said last week that “the danger of a nuclear Iran may be the biggest security challenge facing America and the world.” Really, more than Kim Jong Il’s nascent nuclear stockpile or an unstable nuclear-armed Pakistan, or the hundreds of tons of loosely secured highly enriched uranium in Russia?
Of course, Republicans are silly too. Consider this excerpt from a resolution introduced in January by Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN).
“Whereas this provocation represents only the latest action by the Government of Iran in a long pattern of intransigence relating to its nuclear program, including its violation of an October 2003 agreement with the United Kingdom, Germany, and France (the “EU-3”) only months after the agreement was signed, its unilateral violation of the 2004 agreement with the EU-3 to suspend its enrichment program (commonly known as the “Paris Agreement”), its failure to provide IAEA inspectors access to various nuclear sites, and its refusal to answer outstanding questions related to its nuclear program.” Uh, actually Senator, Iran has been providing access to its sites. Indeed, as Director General El-Baredei said in his last statement before Sen. Coleman introduced his resolution, “The Agency continues to monitor installations related to Iran´s enrichment programmes, and has not observed any deviation from Iran´s voluntary suspension of enrichment activities.
In fact, just this past Tuesday at a forum organized by the Monterey Institute of International Studies El-Baradei said Iran does not pose an immediate nuclear threat and the world must act cautiously to avoid repeating mistakes made with Iraq and North Korea. The point, however, is not to take shots at members of Congress who spout nonsense in order to score political credits. That would be too easy and would be a never-ending task.The point is that, unbelievably, despite everything that has been said and done previously, diplomacy actually has a chance. The United States has now said it would open talks with Iran if Tehran suspended its nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities. Even though the U.S. offer has preconditions, which makes negotiations more difficult it is at least worth taking seriously. So in that regard I would encourage members of Congress to enact a moratorium on silly rhetoric.
The point is that, unbelievably, despite everything that has been said and done previously, diplomacy actually has a chance. The United States has now said it would open talks with Iran if Tehran suspended its nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities. Even though the U.S. offer has preconditions, which makes negotiations more difficult it is at least worth taking seriously. So in that regard I would encourage members of Congress to enact a moratorium on silly rhetoric.But, if temptation proves too much I would like to note one resolution all members could support. That is H. RES. 846, introduced by Congresswoman Lee. It requires that the President is requested and the Secretary of State is directed to provide to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, all documents, including planning documents, electronic mail records, minutes, memoranda, and advisory legal opinions, in the possession of the President or the Secretary of State, respectively, relating to strategies, and plans either designed to cause regime change in or for the use of military force against Iran.
Since so many members of Congress want to talk tough they should at least ensure that some serious planning is being undertaken, as wasn’t the case in Iraq.
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