Congressman Gary Ackerman Calls for Revised Iran Policy

At a Foreign Affairs hearing on 31 January 2007, Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) talked about the need for a revised US policy on Iran. Here is an excerpt of his statement:

"While the White House intones that “all options are on the table,” the military facts of life argue otherwise. Our armed forces, especially our Army and Marine Corps, are operating on the edge of their capacity. While the Air Force and Navy remain capable of conducting a robust conventional bombing campaign, I remain skeptical that they would be able to strike all the key components of Iran’s nuclear program. Many facilities are extremely well-protected, some are buried, others are hardened, and some have all of these features. More troubling, based on recent history, I think prudence demands that we assume there are both facilities we have not yet identified and facilities we have misidentified. Moreover, we have scarcely considered the full nature and extent of Iran’s presence in Iraq, and what capabilities it has to make mischief in other parts of the Middle East, or the rest of the globe.

"Although our military options are dismal, the Bush Administration seems intent on charging full-speed ahead towards confrontation. If we had a credible diplomatic alternative we were pushing the Iranians toward, such gambling might make sense. Without a diplomatic backstop, however, it is merely reckless.

Without question, face-to-face dialogue with the Iranians would be difficult, unpleasant, and likely to fail. However, if there are no talks, a negotiated resolution of either the Iranian nuclear problem, or the instability and violence in Iraq is essentially impossible. I would add here that this administration’s incessant practice of subcontracting to other countries the most vital questions of our national security represents one of the most egregious and shameful failures in the history of American foreign policy."