A Reality Check on Iran Policy and U.S. Campaign Politics
By Joseph Wilson on November 6, 2007 at 7:55 PM in Iran, Presidential Candidates
On November 1, 30 Democratic senators, led by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, delivered a strong letter to President Bush in response to his increasingly bellicose language on Iran. The letter informs the president that he does not have the authority to take military action against Iran without prior, specific authorization from the Congress. This message follows up on the bill proposed by Senator Webb and co-sponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton requiring congressional authorization for the use of military force on Iran. Senator Clinton, in fact, first proposed that the administration could not act without a wholly new authorization in a floor speech on February 14.
The November 1 letter directly addresses the Kyl-Lieberman non-binding resolution, which declares a sense of the Senate that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, an autonomous force within the Iranian military structure, is a terrorist organization. The resolution also makes explicit that it is a diplomatic sanction, not in any way to be interpreted as a basis for military action. During the debate, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois deleted reference to “military instrumentalities” and added: “Nothing in this Act should be construed as giving the president the authority to use military force against Iran.”
Durbin explained, “I am opposed to military action in Iran. To say we need to pressure the Iranians to change their course in the Middle East and I want to do it by nonmilitary means, that’s what my vote was all about.”
As those who voted for its final Durbin version, including Senator Clinton, have made clear, the resolution is an attempt to inject a diplomatic element into a situation fraught with potential danger. This measure is just one of the appropriate tools at our disposal, and there should be other diplomatic initiatives, as Senator Clinton has proposed: strengthening multilateral negotiations and opening direct bilateral relations with Iran. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has not adopted the comprehensive diplomatic approach proposed by Senator Clinton.
The November 1 letter reinforces the actual language of the Durbin amended version of Kyl-Lieberman, calls for broad diplomacy of the kind advocated by Senator Clinton and puts the Bush administration on notice that it has no authorization for the use of military force against Iran. The letter states that the Kyl-Lieberman resolution “should in no way be interpreted as a predicate for the use of military force in Iran. We stand ready to work with your administration to address the challenges presented by Iran in a manner that safeguards our security interests and promotes a regional diplomatic solution, but we wish to emphasize that offensive military action should not be taken against Iran without the express consent of Congress.”
Given these facts, distorted criticism of those senators who voted for the Durbin version of Kyl-Lieberman, especially Senator Clinton, and refusal to sign the November 1 letter lacks merit on the substance.
Senator Barack Obama was absent when the vote on Kyl-Lieberman was taken, though that has not prevented him from criticizing colleagues who participated in the debate and voted for it. He has also opted not to sign the letter to the president. Since then, he has repeatedly argued for direct presidential talks with the Iranian leadership with no preconditions. Rather than reinforcing diplomatic options, his actions have the effect of eschewing diplomatic efforts to bring the Revolutionary Guard to heel, while placing all his bets for peaceful coexistence with Iran in the future on his own charisma and charm.
He has also made clear that for him the paramount enemy is George W. Bush, not an organization that has a history of involvement in terrorism and has been actively targeting American troops in Iraq.
As one who practiced diplomacy on behalf of our country for decades, including as the acting ambassador in Iraq during Desert Shield, where I personally confronted Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, Senator Obama’s approach seems to me to misunderstand diplomacy. Needless to say, profound distrust of Bush and the administration is more than merited. I yield to nobody in my own efforts to bring their lies to public attention. But the Durbin version of Kyl-Lieberman and the November 1 letter are clear in drawing lines in not granting the Bush administration authority it does not have.
The administration has rightly been criticized for its refusal to use the broad array of tools at our disposal other than military action in the conduct of national security. War has been its first, second and final option — its preferred option — with disastrous results. Successful policy-making requires the use of complex diplomacy, carrots and sticks — incentives, such as structured talks, and disincentives, such as sanctions against rogue elements. Coping with the Bush administration should not cause us to ignore at our peril very real adversaries that would do us harm. These clearly include Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Senator Obama’s criticism of the vote and refusal to join with his Democratic colleagues on the letter to the president appear to be based more on the politics than the substance. The entire Senate was notified a day beforehand about the vote on the Kyl-Lieberman resolution. If he truly had a sense of urgency on the issue he should have made a point of participating in the debate and voting, when he would have had the opportunity at the time to air his substantive disagreement with his home state colleague Senator Durbin, rather than waiting to raise the issue afterwards in a purely political context and using it as a campaign tactic.
It is an honor to have Joe Wilson as a contributor to No Quarter. Welcome, Ambassador Wilson.
Ambassador Wilson
Thanks for your past, present and future service to our country.
Very insightful piece..
kind regards to you and your family.
-The Hoopster
No matter what the language of Kyl/Lieberman ended up being, it was wrongheaded to do at all, given the givens.
Hillary Clinton will not make a good enough president, even if neither will Barack Obama.
And, I’d really like to know some particulars when people keep assuring me that Iran means us harm.
Me, too, 99.
Joe, our mantra on these Iran claims is “prove it.” Can you blame us? We’ve been had and had and we’ve had it!
Best regards to you and Val. My admiration for you both is tremendous.
Having tools at your disposal does not make you a mechanic, knowing how to use them is the key.
Bush has all the tools he could ever hope to need and no clue how to use them properly.
Willful ignorance is not a sound foreign policy.
The sense of the Senate “(5) that the United States should designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and place the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, as established under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and initiated under Executive Order 13224” places the IRC and their base country, Iran, on the list of targets to be acted against if the President so chooses, with no further authorization required from Congress (in the unconstitutional view taken by Congressional majorities), according to a prior authorization to use force passed by Congress.
President George W. Bush was glad to have the discretionary leeway Congress unconstitutionally attempted to grant him in 2003. We can see what he has done with the leeway. Certainly he’s glad to have reinforcement for what he did, and to have been given permission and encouragement to place the IRC and Iran on the target list. If he launches an offensive against Iran, he’ll throw Kyl-Lieberman back into the faces of critics in Congress. I appreciate that some in Congress, Senator Hillary Clinton prominent among them, would like to make Kyl-Lieberman safe; I hope they are successful, but the train may have left the station.
“2003” was incorrect. Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists was passed in September, 2001. Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 was passed in October, 2002.
Dear Ambassador Wilson,
If it were easy to dissuade the President from his chosen course, letters such as those of which you write would not be necessary. Sadly, they are not necessary, but crucial, to the national discourse. I wish, nevertheless, that some party or group could impress upon Mr. Bush that his duty is to protect the Constitution, and not, as he would have us believe in his role as Commander-in-Chief, to protect us from terrorists. It is this fundamental misapprehension on his part, inculcated endlessly in the traditional media, and in his speeches, that offends me the most, and which is the greatest danger to this great country. Please, Mr. Ambassador, keep fighting the good fight, in hopes that we can all rest a little easier knowing that the White House does not set in motion an even greater conflagration than that in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Good luck.
Ambassador,
Just as they lied about what you said, and outed your CIA wife,just as they lied about the authorization in 2002 that it would force Iraq to allow in the inspectors and was a move towards peaceful resolution,…we all here have read the Downing Street Minutes, and know about the Drumheller findings, and the input of this secret data to the Bush administration.They are total liars. They used forged documents.Hillary has admitted that she NEVER read the NIE..where they hid the truth in footnotes…truth that there were No WMDs, and we here in our little world KNEW that. Why didn’t she….and so…to repeat these false claims of Iranian “murderous” interference, and to threaten Iran by declaring part of their army “terrorists” is the ultimate stupidity….or worse. The army is not credible,and the Pentagon lies ruthlessly….Doug Feith anyone.Jessica Lynch or Pat Tilman anyone. This guy Bergner is a complete liar…they faked the news about Iran armaments and failed to allow them to be seen by impartial observers.Where is the proof???? There is none. They arrested 7 members of the Iranian diplomats IN AN EMBASSY building, diplomats invited by the Kurds, and accused them of being Quds force secret and dangerous operatives. These “terrorists” were released today after 11 months in captivity…without ANY CHARGES. The Pentagon lies all the time….and Hillary and Durbin …in fact also you yourself should be keenly aware of that by now.
So that “nonbinding” resolution was a supreme mistake…and a letter by 20 Senators is a joke. Bush and Cheney are probably still laughing. They need to pass a real resolution prohibiting an attack on Iran on pain of impeach,ment, unless there is a declaration of war by the senate. Otherwise the Democrats will(once again) be compliocit in a clear violation of international law…and commit a war crime with unprecedented terrible consequences.
Though I admire what you and your wife have done, I believe that you..and Hillary and Durbin and all the others who are enabling Bush by behaving in such a spineless manner are facillitating an attack on Iran by this extreme and delusional administration.
Welcome Mr. Joe Wilson. Always nice to hear from an oasis of rational thinking, in the desert of political pundits who talk to hear the sound of their own voice.
Or put another way, because only tool they know how to use is a hammer, everything they see looks like a nail.
What to do with Bush and Cheney? Statements of position by Congress are fine. But the diplomacy of these statements can only work if the executive plays with the same or similar rule book. I know I’m not alone in sensing that this administration is playing by a rule book they write by and for themselves, and much of the time claim as a state secret. So while diplomacy in foreign relations is good, I think the diplomacy used towards this Whitehouse bunch needs to be backed up with actions that have teeth.
Obama seems to capture the dreams of many, but I think he needs to mature as a politician. Talk and charisma are cheap. Let’s see in a few years how his track record shows if he’s learned to walk the talk.
Personally, I’ve had enough of Shrub’s lack of experience. It’s time for someone with lessons well learned from real grown-up experience.
[...] A Reality Check on Iran Policy and U.S. Campaign Politics Filed under: Iran — jr @ 1:19 am A Reality Check on Iran Policy and U.S. Campaign Politics [...]
Thank you Ambassador Wilson for continuing to speak out in many positbe way. One of the funest ninebts was bein gwith you during Jim Marcinkowski’sbud for Congress. I have the highest regard for both you and your wife. You are both Patriots, and I thank your for your service to our country.
Unfortuneately, I agree with the other posters here who say that it doesn’t seem to matter what we do any more. The lines seem to be drawn in the sand, and none of our elected leaders are principled enouth or perhaps patriotic enought to stand up and do the right thing. We have been lied to and our constitutional rights have been denigrated to the point that I wonder it we can ever recover what has been lost. I pray IA am very wrong.
War with Iran is all but started. We have now dropped two nuclear devices on Syria, and more treasonous acts are being commited each day without the Congress, or the people demanding a stop to the maddness. Letters and calls no doubt tell our leaders our anger. If only they cared. And really wanted to uphold the rule of law and the constitution. Best to Val… the book is GREAT!!!
I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Wilson. I think his criticisms of Senator Obama is valid. In the final analysis I don’t think Congress could pass a law that liar bush would not ignore. All it takes is one admiral or one general to follow liar bush’s order and the war is on
I have to agree to disagree with you, Mr. Wilon, on this issue.
The KL Resolution is not useful at this time either diplomatically or domestically. It is quite frankly pandering to both the neocons and the Israel Lobby to promote it.
It is also not certain that Iran’s IRGC can even be correctly accused of supporting “terrorism” per se. Iran’s primary support is for Hizballah which is primarily a Lebanese nationalist resistance movement, not precisely a “terrorist” movement in the same sense as “Al Qaeda.” While any given tactic used by these groups might be considered “terrorist”, that is insufficient to designate them a “terrorist” group on a par with an organization like Al Qaeda.
Furthermore, the real issue is that it is known by now by just about everybody that you don’t give George Bush - and especially Dick Cheney - an inch or they’ll take a mile. The KL Resolution, regardless of its actual wording, can and will be used to promote the meme in the public discourse that the US Congress authorized any subsequent military action against Iran.
It was, to quote Valerie’s reference to the Iraq war, “ill-considered” to pass this resolution.
Criticism of Clinton’s action is thus warranted.
Please excuse the double post - hit the wrong key at the wrong time.
==========
Fixed it Richard.
Leslie
[...] wrote an interesting post today on A Reality Check on Iran Policy and US Campaign PoliticsHere’s a quick [...]
In the nuclear area, there is absolutely no evidence that Iran is doing anything it is not perfectly within its rights to do. There is every rational reason for Iran to develop nuclear power technology for domestic use, and eventually for potential export. And in any case, even if Iran were eventually to develop nuclear weapons, so what? Nuclear weapons are far less threat in the hands of a country like Iran than they are - and have proven to be - in the hands of the United States.
As to the allegation that Iranian forces are killing American troops in Iraq, if American troops were not where they have no business being (Iraq) doing things they have no business doing (killing Iraqis and destroying their country), NO ONE would be killing American troops in Iraq, now, would they? So, the best solution is to remove American troops from Iraq.
The whole Iran business is a manufactured crisis.
First of all I would also like to thank Ambassador Wilson for posting here, but I have to agree with Shirin on the so called “threat” Iran is to the US.
I think one of the points Shirin is trying to make is whether Iran is a threat to our national security or not. You can’t discuss what to do about a problem until there is a true consensus that a problem even exists.
Maybe I am just naive or uniformed but I have not seen any facts or evidence presented to prove Iran is a threat, so just like Iraq there is no consensus at all.
All I have seen or heard is inflammatory rhetoric and and vague unsubstantiated claims from an administration that lied about the so called
threat to us from Iraq.
Am I not correct on this? They said trust us on the runup to the invasion of Iraq, we know what we are doing. So we did and now look what we have! A f**king mess, and instead of trying to fix it the slimy bastards are diverting our attention away from Iraq, to another even lessor or no threat than Iraq was. What kind of stupid logic is this??
So what? We are just supposed to line up like hungry birds and let them and their right wing news enablers spoon feed us with calming there there
everything is going to be fine, just trust us again?? I don’t think so!
BTW relative to my statement about diverting attention away from Iraq you should all read this story…
The Iraq war has become a disaster that we have chosen to forget
at this link……http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18669.htm
The current leaders of this country are hell bent on turning this country into their empire and they don’t give a shit what anybody thinks. They believe they God is on their side and no amount of logic, Senate resolutions or anything else is going to stop them.
There is only only two ways to stop them as I have said many times on this site and largely been ignored and one of them is not just blindly get behind Hillary Clinton. (Go to the democracy for america website and look where she ranks among so called progressives on their pulse poll)
Impeachment or a Coup by the military and since the military doesn’t seem to have the balls to fight our “domestic enemies”, the only recourse is Impeachment.
BTW the winner in the dfa poll is Dennis Kucinich who also has introduced another impeachment resolution in the House, which of course will probably be tabled indefinitely.
Dennis Kuncinich gets my vote because he is doing something about the problem. He is a true patriot like Valerie and Joe Wilson, who is standing up and speaking the truth. All the other candidates are just self serving wishy washy flipping flopping opportunists.
Yes, Bill, thanks, that is exactly my main point. Just as Iraq was not a problem until the Bush regime decided to make it a problem as a pretext for invading, Iran is only a problem now because the Bush regime needed another pretext for something.
1. There is no evidence that Iran is doing anything with its nuclear program that it does not have every legal right to do. It is entirely reasonable for Iran to move toward nuclear power, and in fact some of the characters who are screaming the loudest now about their nuclear program were, not all that long ago, encouraging them to go in that direction.
2. If Iran does in fact intend one day to develop a nuclear weapon, that is a perfectly reasonable goal given that Iran is surrounded by - and often threatened by - nuclear states.
3. Iran has no history of aggression, and no one has presented any evidence that this is going to change in the foreseeable future.
4. As for the talk of Israel as the “number one state sponsor of international terrorism”, as I have said many times, show us what you’ve got. So far all they manage to come up with that is not completely risible is Israel’s support for Hezbullah, and alleged support for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are complex homegrown organizations with local, not global, agendas, and none of which qualifies as an international terrorist threat. Whether Hezbullah even qualifies as a terrorist group is debatable.
In addition, Iran has an active pro-democracy movement that the United States has done nothing but undermine with its machinations.
We’d love to have you in Houston with Valerie and Larry Johnson to discuss the Italian Niger connection to today and consider what citizens can do besides being outraged and informed, though thats a start.
This is shadow boxing of a sort.
Never bring a knife to a gunfight, never bring a shadow boxer to a barroom brawl…
A nonbinding resolution to bind Dubya from war with Iran after we agree to mitigate Joke Lieberman’s language against Iran; providing verbal material case precedent in terms of what he says against Persia?
So, how exactly can Dubya not cherry pick this statement, and take authorization, based on the assumption of Iran being a terror supporter for its Revolutionary Guard? He can still ignore a binding limitation of power for a non-binding agreement.
That is classic shadowboxing.
Fool me once, shame on Yoo. No more vague endorsements of Dubya’s anti-Constitutional efforts.
True, Obama is playing both sides of the fence, not showing for votes then speaking against items. He’s prisoner to campaign season, much like John McCain. Both are trying to play both sides of the fence with a pitch sounding like a Joe sixpack…
neither is voting to put money where their mouth is, or their arse on the line on voting record as it were…
I’d rather see a bundle of diplomatic efforts channeled to a regional framework. Iran agrees to the usual IAEA items and we accelerate normalization.
Then we’re having business with Iran. Business develops contacts, this lends credence to transparency. That reinforces our assurances that they’ll meet concerns of security.
All sanctions do is shut us out, and probably channel additional business Dubai way, etc. Who does Cheney think he’s fooling? He never passes up on a dollar to be made(even at today’s low exchange rate). Why let him shut out all the business to other American companies, ones with better records regarding disclosure and transparency?
We can really wage unilateral sanctions vs. Iran. Soon as we’re done winning the unilateral war we’ve waged in Iraq, we’ll report how good one sided actions work…
in the meantime keep shadowboxing.
Southern Lebanon is still the big item, the trans Arabian and Trans Iraqi pipelines flow there, much of the region’s headwaters exist there in rivers and lakes. Israel wants that, finding ways to remove the influence of more powerful benefactors is our current duty on their behalf, which can let them gain leverage in the southern portion.
Oh, btw bombing campaigns in Lebanon don’t work either. They only make people more mad. Israel took a UN observer post out that manned by China in the bombing campaign, with some ordinance too accurate to be considered accidental. That was the day after Condi met with China and then made an official statement, after the boss who banks our currency said what we could do…
Iran and China are new buddies on the world after bellicose Bush language forced Western isolation into play. Now they’re ready to act across the regions, the doorway to the Mediterranean and all of the Mideast’s energy taps that go there have emotional and active support from countries we side against on Israel’s behalf.
What Bush says about it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans any more. Congress is running on borrowed money too. Stop shadowboxing and learn from the real pros. Move aside and the let the big dogs eat. China and Russia are hungry.
Our empire is myth, as is the narrative of American exceptionalism. Rocky doesn’t win this sequel with our flag in his corner. Hollywood has no boxer able to do that, not even Ahnold(though he would play a great villain vs. Sly Stallone and it would be a better role for him than his current casting couch in California’s Executive mansion). Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to have someone fight for us who can cook up some good food, like George Foreman can, and make it more healthy to eat American style. Not for the win, but for the flavor…
Or maybe we’ll stay bloated and hungry for more oil and a petrodollar pushed past its peak. Junkies for the myth… the high will never be the same. The aging champ, like Ali… no longer sharp or quick of wit armed with graced mechanics. Relegated to ghost fighting with character grimace faces and phantom uppercuts before needing help back to his chair.
America has become a glorified shadowboxer.(/Cosell)
Lieberman checked out of reality long ago.
Hammering the left for misinterpretation of the K/L amendment
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/08/lieberman-iran-blo
gs-conspiracy/
Almost every time Lieberman speaks it seems he is pushing for more war. This is from a guy who deferred from serving in Vietnam. These yellow bellied chickenhawks really get to me. Ready to send someone else off to an unnecessary and immoral war, but unwilling to put their own ass on the line, just does not fly.
Oops here is the Lieberman link
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/08/lieberman-iran-blogs-conspiracy/