The Wall Street Journal reports that six retired Israeli generals have come out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US government. From Amnon Reshef, a former general who headed Israel’s armored corps:
When the Israeli prime minister argues that his speech will stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, he is not only misleading Israel—he is actually strengthening Iran. The American people see the rift between Israel and the administration. The Israeli public sees it and, more important, the mullahs in Iran see it as well.
The Wall Street Journal, “Israeli Ex-Generals Warn on Netanyahu’s Iran Speech,” 3/2/15
This is an attempt by Netanyahu and Congressional leaders to torpedo US nuclear negotiations with Iran. Although US presidents have negotiated a variety of agreements with a variety of unpleasant regimes, no agreement is permissible with Iran, which has never tested a nuclear bomb or produced weapon-grade uranium or plutonium. US intelligence assessments in 2007 and 2011 both concluded that Iran has no nuclear bomb program.
Should we trust Iran? No more so than President Kennedy trusted the USSR when he negotiated the Limited Test Ban Treaty, or Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush trusted the USSR when they negotiated and implemented the Start I treaty. However, Iran has said that any new sanctions imposed by the US would cause it to walk away from negotiations. President Obama has rightfully threatened to veto such sanctions if enacted by Congress. If the US can negotiate agreements with the second largest nuclear power in the world, President Obama deserves his shot at negotiating an agreement with a nation that is not even a nuclear power.
The Senate will get to fulfill its “advice and consent” role if and when a final agreement is reached, and it will require a two-thirds majority (the Limited Test Ban Treat and Start I were both approved with bipartisan two-thirds plus majorities). Obama cannot do this one by executive agreement, not if the Constitution still means anything. Negotiations, however long they may last, are vastly superior to what Netanyahu and many in Congress want: war with Iran. At last check, the US was not doing to well with its Middle East forays. If you think blowback terrorism and Middle East emigration are bad now, how much more intolerable will they be if we go to war with Iran? The President and the Congress decide US foreign policy, not the Israel lobby and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Robert, I don’t think much of this article. I have no interest in another war. The Left has only one default position, that is, “If you aren’t with O, then you want to go to war. I find that position lame, insulting and unworthy of response. How many wars did Ronald Reagan prosecute to bringing down the Soviet Empire? Answer, ZERO. Reagan was a President with wisdom, credibility and courage. O is just that, a ZERO. You can keep your doctor if you like your doctor, you can keep your health plan if you like your health plan, ISIS is a JV…….Cheers, “E”
Edwina,
There are any number of public comments from members of Congress, both Republican and Democratic, the Israel lobby, and from Mr. Netanyahu, refusing to consider the possibility of negotiating with Iran, insisting that sanctions must be strengthened, and either not ruling out war on Iran or explicitly endorsing it if Iran fails to terminate its nuclear power program. Like you, I have no interest in another war, but many members of Congress of both parties do. I agree with you that Ronald Reagan was “a President with wisdom, credibility and courage,” qualities I find lacking in Congress, the executive branch, or in Mr. Netanyahu. Those qualities enabled the US to outmatch the Soviet Union, a nuclear power with thousands of warheads, without firing a shot. If he could negotiate with that nation, why can’t negotiate with Iran? I think the current regime in Iran will eventually, like the regime in the Soviet Union, collapse under the weight of its Islamic religious idealogy, just as the Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of its Marxist religious ideology. Historically all governments have collapsed. In the interim, I believe negotiations are preferable to warfare, which is not, to repeat myself, a preference shared by many members of Congress and by Netanyahu, judging from their public comments. I’m skeptical Obama can come up with an agreement that can get past the Senate, but I approve of the effort. That by no means makes me an Obama lover.