Bush administration officials, leading neocons, and conservative commentators were taken aback yesterday when Barack Obama reiterated his opposition to a military confrontation with Iran, and called, again, for increased diplomatic outreach to Tehran. The president and John McCain have, of course, called negotiations with Iran “appeasement,” and Obama’s remarks were like waving a flag in front of a bull.
Wait, did I say Obama? This reflects his position, but in this case, the remarks actually came from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It could turn out to be one of the most significant comments of the 2008 campaign — but coming just ahead of a holiday weekend, it isn’t getting much notice.
Upon his return from a visit to Israel and Europe, the nation’s highest ranking military officer warned Wednesday that a military strike on Iran would be a very bad idea.
“This is a very unstable part of the world, and I don’t need it to be more unstable,” said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen.
He added pointedly, “we haven’t had much of a dialogue with the Iranians for a long time,” seeming to imply that the Bush administration should be talking to the Iranian government.
Well, when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff emphasizes the need for a new round of dialog with Iran, I think he’s doing more than just “imply” that the administration should try engaging Tehran.
In a political context, of course, it’s interesting that in the midst of the presidential campaign, in which the two major-party candidates disagree strongly on how to approach relations with Iran, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would, unprompted, implicitly announce his support for the policy presented by the Democratic nominee.
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama has said that if elected, he would begin talks with Iran, without any precondition.
The Bush administration has insisted that before talks can begin, Iran must cease its nuclear enrichment — a step toward building nuclear weapons.
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has said that his rival’s willingness to hold direct talks, without preconditions, reveals “the depth of Sen. Obama’s inexperience and reckless judgment.”
One wonders if McCain and his cohorts will offer a similar condemnation of Adm. Mullen.
It’s unusual for a military officer, especially the nation’s highest ranking one, to warn in such explicit terms of potential military action and to so emphatically call for diplomacy.
“What struck me about the comments was that he called for dialogue with Iran in his preliminary statement, even before he was responding to (reporters’) questions,” said Jon Alterman, the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Alterman pointed to Mullen’s opening statement in which he said, “I’m convinced a solution still lies in using other elements of national power to change Iranian behavior, including diplomatic, financial and international pressure. There is a need for better clarity, even dialogue at some level.”
And given that Mullen already doesn’t have the troop levels he wants for Afghanistan, the prospect of a military confrontation in Iran sounds even more irresponsible.
Mullen appeared to be edging toward saying that military action, either by Israel or the United States, or both, would be catastrophic. He also warned that the United States would be hard pressed to conduct operations against Iran, given the commitment of tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“From the United States’ perspective, the United States’ military perspective, in particular, opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful on us,” Mullen told reporters. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have capacity or reserve, but that would really be very challenging.”
And, he added, “The consequences of that (military action) sometimes are very difficult to predict.”
Quick, someone send a copy of Adm. Mullen’s remarks over to the McCain campaign and the White House. Maybe someone over there will learn something.