Republican Idiocy on Iran
After
helping to ignite a firestorm over a possible nuclear agreement with
Iran, Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate,
is now sort of acknowledging his error. “Maybe that wasn’t exactly the
best way to do that,” he said on Fox News on Tuesday.
He was referring to the disgraceful and irresponsible letter that he and 46 Senate colleagues sent to Iran’s leaders this week that generated outrage from Democrats and even some conservatives.
The
letter was an attempt to scare the Iranians from making a deal that
would limit their nuclear program for at least a decade by issuing a
warning that the next president could simply reverse any agreement. It
was a blatant, dangerous effort to undercut the president on a grave
national security issue by communicating directly with a foreign
government.
Maybe
Mr. McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
should have thought about the consequences before he signed the letter,
which was drafted by Tom Cotton, a Republican of Arkansas, a junior
senator with no foreign policy credentials. Instead of trying to be
leaders and statesmen, the Republicans in Congress seem to think their
role is outside the American government, divorced from constitutional
principles, tradition and the security interests of the American people.
The
letter was the latest shot to blow up the negotiations with Iran.
Earlier this month, House Republicans invited Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu of Israel to denounce a pact in a speech to Congress, and a group of senators is pushing legislation that could set new conditions on a deal and force a congressional vote.
Besides
being willing to sabotage any deal with Iran (before they know the
final details), these Republicans are perfectly willing to diminish
America’s standing as a global power capable of crafting international
commitments and adhering to them.
Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. was blistering in his condemnation,
saying, “This letter sends a highly misleading signal to friend and foe
alike that our commander in chief cannot deliver on America’s
commitments — a message that is as false as it is dangerous.” But
perhaps President Obama described this bizarre reality best. “It’s
somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common
cause with the hard-liners in Iran,” he said. “It’s an unusual
coalition.”
So
far, the Iranians have largely dismissed the bumbling threat, with
their foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, describing the letter as
“propaganda.” But there are fears it could embolden hard-liners in Iran
who, like the Republicans and some of the Democrats in Congress, oppose
any nuclear agreement between Iran, the United States and its major
allies.
The
Republican efforts have so infuriated Democrats that even those who
might have supported legislation that would have given Congress leverage
over an Iranian pact are having second thoughts. Before this, the
thinking was that the two bills most in play — one that would increase
sanctions on Iran and another that would force the administration to
bring any agreement to Congress for a review — might draw enough
Democratic support to override a veto by President Obama. Both measures
would surely scuttle a deal, but the Republicans’ actions may have set
back their senseless cause.
The best and only practical way to restrain Iran from developing a bomb
is through negotiating a strict agreement with tough monitoring. In
rejecting diplomacy, the Republicans make an Iranian bomb and military
conflict more likely.
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A version of this editorial appears in print on March 12, 2015, on page A28 of the New York edition with the headline: Republican Idiocy on Iran
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/opinion/republican-idiocy-on-iran.html
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