10/05/09

The mythical “water’s edge” beyond which politics plays no part in US national security policy receded further this weekend, as Senator Jim DeMint personally worked to undermine US policy toward Honduras and other Senators sought to go around the chain of command on Afghanistan and called for military strikes on Iran.  It is fair to advocate these positions; it is another thing to actively lobby for them in a political manner that undercuts our country’s ability to navigate the already difficult terrain of national security policy.

The president’s global agenda – showing that the US can be stronger and more cooperative at the same time – has come under withering attack from conservatives.  Opposition to President Obama on national security policy has come to resemble little more than a consensus of “no”. Their reflexive opposition – vividly evident in domestic debates and in the celebrations over the Olympic committee’s decision against Chicago as well – has become their defining characteristic.  The concept of a loyal opposition that provides subdued criticism of a President’s national security policy seems to have been forgotten, replaced by a counter-productive, and potentially damaging agenda.  There no longer appears to be a water’s edge in Washington.

Senator Jim DeMint (R- SC) undercuts Obama on Latin America by deliberately working “against the foreign policy of the United States” on Honduras.  DeMint has prevented the Obama administration from fully fielding its Latin America diplomatic team, undercutting our ability to resolve the immediate tensions in Honduras as he tries to enforce policy goals at odds with the Administration.. Senator DeMint’s home state newspaper, The State, described the Senator’s recent trip to Honduras saying, “U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint returned Saturday from his controversial fact-finding mission. DeMint led a delegation that met with Honduran President Roberto Micheletti, members of the Honduran Supreme Court, leading candidates for the upcoming Nov. 29 elections, election officials and Honduran business and civic leaders... The DeMint trip caused a spark last week after U.S. Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, attempted to block DeMint's trip... DeMint has long objected to the Obama administration's response to the crisis, arguing the United States should not promote the former government's return to power.”  As Steve Clemons at the Washington Note further explains, “Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has announced that he is heading down to Honduras to encourage those who helped fund and supported the coup against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to resist American pressure to return Zelaya to office. The US Department of State has begun to revoke the visas of wealthy supporters of the military coup. In other words, Jim DeMint is acting on behalf of, in cahoots with, and against the foreign policy of the United States of America in encouraging post-coup Honduran government officials defy the United States. He is encouraging a political leadership which has no legitimacy and which not recognized by other democracies in the region -- while the ousted President makes cell phone UN General Assembly statements from a couch-bed in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa.”

In addition, to his controversial trip, “DeMint has blocked the nominations of Thomas Shannon, President Barack Obama’s pick to serve as ambassador to Brazil, and Arturo Valenzuela, the choice for the post of assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs,” according to The Hill.  Clemons puts DeMint’s actions in historical context: “A US Senator alone does not make the America's foreign policy, and working against the policies of the United States in collaboration with foreign officials... well... there are words that come to mind to describe this behavior, but I want to be civil towards the Senator.”  DeMint is not only out of sync with U.S. policy, but the policy of the entire hemisphere, undermining the international consensus of our regional partners to bring about a peaceful solution, as the Washington Post explains : “The administration, along with all other governments in the hemisphere, branded the action a ‘coup.’ It also cut off millions of dollars in aid and suspended the U.S. visas of Honduran officials. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton helped organize negotiations, led by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, that produced a plan to allow ousted president Manuel Zelaya to return to his post temporarily, with limited powers.” [The State, 10/4/09. The Washington Note, 10/1/09.  The Hill, 9/20/09. Washington Post, 10/5/09]

Conservative Senators call on Obama to abrogate role as Commander in Chief and instead to simply defer to the military on Afghanistan - Jones takes them to task for playing politics.  Over the last few weeks, certain congressional conservatives have exhibited a steady pattern of undermining the President’s deliberations over the strategy for Afghanistan by using the military for political purposes.  Senator Jon Kyl (R – AZ) accused White House officials of “being armchair generals,” argued that the President should defer to the military leadership, and cautioned against “a big debate.”  Former Republican President Candidate and Kyl’s colleague from Arizona Senator John McCain has pushed a similar position.  Last week McCain attempted to pass an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill that would have required General Stanley McChrystal to testify before Congress, without complementary testimony from the civilian leadership involved in setting the strategy for Afghanistan.  The amendment failed and a replacement amendment that respected the chain of command, authored by Senator Levin (D – MI), passed.  

In a rebuke to such efforts, National Security Advisor Jim Jones appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation to underscore “the importance of the moment to make sure that the strategic issues and the strategic decisions that the president will make are fully aired and vetted and that the options that the president has are also put on the table. It would be, I think, unfortunate if we let the discussion just be about troop strength.”  Also appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Jones emphasized that “it’s better for military advice to come up through the chain of command.”  When asked to respond to an insinuation by Senator McCain - that the Administration was kowtowing to its liberal base – Jones took exception to the remark and stressed the importance of not “play[ing] politics with national security.”  [Senator Jon Kyl (R – AZ), 10/04/09. National Security Advisor Jim Jones on CBS 10/04/09. National Security Advisor Jim Jones on CNN 10/04/09]

Conservatives on Capitol Hill attempt to undercut Administration’s hard-headed negotiations with Iran.  When asked by John King from CNN’s State of the Union whether Congress should move ahead with sanctions against Iran, despite ongoing international negotiations, Senator Jon Kyl responded by saying “Putting sticks on the table is exactly the point, John... I think we should go forward with it.”  Kyl was joined by Senators Saxby Chambliss (R – GA) and Lindsey Graham (R – SC).  On Fox News Sunday, Chambliss said that “just continuing the dialogue with them and threatening them with sanctions, if the President's gonna take that attitude, I don't think we're gonna get anywhere.”  Chambliss also urged that if sanctions failed, the U.S. should pursue “a full-out military strike.”

Yet there is widespread agreement amongst top Pentagon officials, foreign policy experts, and even Iran’s moderate opposition that this dangerous approach will not work and will be counterproductive to our interests:

• Colin Kahl, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, told ThinkProgress: “‘[I]t will have an unpredictable set of consequences for the region but we can imagine a number of destabilizing ones. Depending on how Iran chose to retaliate, whether they chose to retaliate through the use of proxies in places like Iran or in Afghanistan through incitement of Shia communities... They could activate potentially activate or encourage Hizballah and Hamas to engage in reprisals and you can imagine the second and third order consequences of that on the peace process and on our outreach to the Muslim world and all of that.... We don’t exactly know how it would unfold you have the prospects for unintended escalation and kind of losing control of what’s going on,’ Kahl warned, adding that even though any military strike could delay Iran’s nuclear program, it could also ‘incentivize the Iranians to go all the way to weaponize.’”

• Ambassador Nick Burns, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs during the Bush administration: “Here again, I would just credit President Obama. I know that there are critics, particularly on the right, who say that engagement isn't going to work and that it has been a waste of time. I very strongly disagree with that. I think President Obama made clear from the very first moments of his presidency, from the clenched fist reference in his inaugural speech, through his Nowruz message to the Iranian people and then through his offer to negotiate unconditionally – I think he turned the tables on the Iranians. He has helped to put them on the defensive. I do think these talks start with the Iranians in a difficult position.

• Iranian opposition leader Mir Mir Hossein Mousavi: "[s]anctions would not affect the government but would impose many hardships upon the people, who suffer enough as a result of the calamity of their insane rulers."

[Senator Jon Kyl on CNN, 10/04/09. Senator Saxby Chambliss on Fox News via TPM, 10/04/09. DASD for the Middle East Colin Kahl, via Ben Armbruster, Think Progress, 10/1/09. Ambassador Nick Burns, 10/01/09. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Washington Post, 10/1/09]

What We’re Reading

The head of US Central Command, General David Petraeus, is sharing the spotlight with various other voices in Obama’s deliberation over the strategy in Afghanistan, in stark contrast to his command of the strategy in Iraq during the Bush Administration.

A black market for goods and services could complicate the enhanced sanctions policy the United States is considering adopting against the Iranian regime.

The released disclosure of terrorist plots in the United States highlights the tenuous relationship law enforcement officials have with the Muslim-American community. Law enforcement officials are particularly concerned with the recruitment of Somali-Americans by Islamists.

Detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay would face vastly different condition should they be moved to a federal prison within the United States. Numerous detainees poised for release have complicated cases presenting numerous hurdles.

The Pope calls for a renewed focus on Africa, where he hopes faith will act as vehicle for political reconciliation and as a means for coping with the rapid burst of globalization on the continent.  

Human rights activists accuse Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of accelerating the arrest of political dissidents.

Haiti hopes to garner financial support as a recent investor’s conference shows confidence in foreign ability to invest in their chronically instable nation even in the middle of the global recession.

Chinese Primer Wen Jiabao met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for a three-day visit, hoping to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table regarding its nuclear program.

The White House is trying to reschedule a meeting between President Obama and the Dalai Lama with the hopes of avoiding tension before President Obama’s meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The recent European Union report blaming both Georgia and Russia for provoking last summer’s brief war seems to have had no effect on Georgian public opinion or President Mikheil Saakashvili's political standing.

In a complete 180 turnaround, Irish voters voted to ratify the Lisbon Treaty aimed at centralizing more authority with the European Union.

Israeli police shut down access to Temple Mount/Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday, spurring Palestinian protesters to throw rocks and bottles.

Several Indian nuclear scientists call for additional nuclear weapons testing, despite signing a nuclear deal with the United States last year.

Commentary of the Day

E.J. Dionne Jr. applauds President Obama for carefully deliberating on Afghanistan strategy, citing historians concerns that ramped up war efforts kill off domestic reform.

Peter W. Galbraith, the former highest-ranking American with the UN mission to Afghanistan, believes the UN is not exercising enough authority and oversight in assisting the Afghans with their electoral recount and possible run-off presidential vote.

Doyle McManus is relieved that several retired generals and admirals are supporting Attorney General Eric Holder’s investigations of CIA interrogations.

J.P. Schnapper-Casteras offers three steps President Obama and Congress can take to present more opportunities for student exchanges between American and Iraqi university students.