A Reality Check on Iran Policy and U.S. Campaign Politics

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.

Comments

[traveler501]

Thanks for the truth! Yet again the media is perpetuating complete fraudulent interpretations of simple facts. Joe...start a news blog?? Please??
John

[FormerDetroiter]

I resent turning the race for the Presidency into a social experiment. Gender baiting should not be a part of this campaign. Where the candidates stand on the important issues should be the criteria on whom we elect as President not their gender.
We need not to just turn the page on our recent history, but throw the book away. John Edwards has been consistant and correct on the issues and the thought that he would not be elected because he happens to be male is an injustice to us all. We need new and dynamic leadership in the White House, not a social experiment in gender flexing. Senator Clinton has eqivocated and played vague mental gymnastics with important issues and then claimed 'piling on' by her male opponents. Pandering to the female vote for gender sake is how we do not get leadership in the White House. While the Republican party is morally and intellectually bankrupt, the Democratic Party does not need to follow in this instance.

[stroud00]

Can someone tell me if Ambassador Wilson has endorsed Hilliary Clinton? I do not know. Thanks.

[QuestionEverything1982]

democrats have caved on everything else what makes you think they won't cave on another illegal war.

[LiberalBeliever]

Thank you Ambassador Wilson. Please continue to explain this situation, particulary in the mainstream media.
Best regards.

[Ramus]

"Unfortunately, the Bush administration has not adopted the comprehensive diplomatic approach proposed by Senator Clinton. " You got that part right. What good did this vote do? How will it help us stop funding the immoral war? And why would Senator Clinton want to associate herself further with Joe (let's bomb Iran) Lieberman? It is just dumb for us to alienate Iranian citizens as we are doing. Iran has a large educated middle class population. Wouldn't it be wise not to alienate the moderate middle class Iranians? We can do better.

[fourex]

The parsing of Kyle/Lieberman by Durbin, Clinton and others needs a gullible uneducated audience, someone who slept through Kyle/Lieberman 1, the attack on Iraq. They suggest that their vote does not in any way authorize Bush to use force. In a land of laws this may be true, but Bush has turned our nation into a jungle. When you untie the jaws of a crocodile the other animals in the river know there will be no diplomacy.

[ImSwiss]

I am not sure on this one but I do know that
if Senator Durbin is for it, then count me in.
He is the real deal!

[tISHA]

So glad I finally read a article about what that vote was about Thank You for stating the facts as they are. I don't want another war, but to do or say nothing, is not good. Hillary
did the right thing in that vote. Obama is good as criticizing votes that he never was around to vote on himself.

[Brujos1]

Resolutions and letters by a timid U.S. Senate are another one of Hillary's famous "messages" to be either ignored or twisted. Recall the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that LBJ used to escalate the Vietnam War. The best line in a great movie "Patton" was the general's response to a cable to desist moving ahead of Montgomery in the Sicily Campaign during WWII. "Message garbled. On to Messina"!

[Liberterna]

Dear Author:

What part of Iranians don't like to be boss around don't you get.

All of what you said is semantics. The question is how do we (provided we have the moral right to do so) get a foreign government to bend to our will.

That is the heart of the issue.

The details of whether we bomb them into bending them to our will or simply deny them the use of economic benefits that come from capitalism is irrelevant.

obama is right on this issue, the point is you can not force a proud ancient people to bow to you willy nilly. You have to negotiate, and you have to sit down and give and take.

Hillary misses that fundamental issue.

She is unfit to be commander in chief, but knowing the democrat's track-record of picking losers she'll probably be the nominee.

Oh well, let's hope either Ron Paul gets the repub nominee or a good 3rd party candidate comes up, otherwise it's the same dung different day.

[ImpeachmentNOW]

.
10 October 2008: All polls show that the November election will be a Democratic landslide for President and Congress. During her regular, private briefing to fox news personnel, the White House Press Secretary announces that a "suspected dirty bomb" has been found in Bethesda in the possession of several Iranians. Under the Kyl-Lieberman Senate resolution passed in 2007 with the full support and backing of Senator Clinton, President DickNBush declares a state of emergency and announces that an air, land and sea-based effort is underway to destroy all nuclear capabilities in Iran. The US election in November is postponed until such time as the Iranian threat to the homeland is eliminated, and the Bill of Rights and Constitution are declared "suspended" during the emergency. Appeals by the ACLU to the Supreme Court to stop this action are rejected by Justice Scalia, who is assigned responsibility for this subject. Scalia then departs on a hunting trip with Cheney to kill small, defenseless animals. House leader Pelosi, in a hastily called news conference, states that the Congress will not tolerate such actions; she states that Congress will take "all appropriate" steps to correct this abuse of power; however, to allow members of Congress time to shop for the holidays, she declares an immediate recess until after the first of the year.

--It COULD happen.
.

[jeff]

If there are any memos that need to be authenticated i hope they use you.
that will get us an eight month head start.

[otaa]

thank God that nobody is buying this Mark Penn shill for hillary.

Mr. Wilson, if you play with the clintons you'll lose yourself. they'll use you to shield criticism and pull the rug from under you when the going gets tough

[TakeNoNeoConPrisoners]

The Kyl-Lieberman non binding legislation and the letter explaining it to the pretzelnut is just the spineless do-nothing Dems CYA. Instead of stopping the madman in the WH with real binding funding cutoffs, they send a mealy mouthed letter saying we told you Mr Bu$hit that you cannot attack Iran w/o our Congressial approval. But if you do, we'll just say we told everyone ahead of time and then cave as ususal to supporting Iran b/c they must support the pretzelnut in time of war. Politics at its worse.