by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 22, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

                Strategically appearing on Fox News Sunday today, 59-year-old CIA Director John Brennen told Chris Wallace that the U.S. can prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons with or without the Geneva arms deal.  “There are a number of things that the United State has available to it to prevent Iran from getting a bomb,” Brennen insisted, not specifying anything in particular.  Working with the so-called P5+1, including the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, Kerry expects to nail down a deal with Iran by the last March 31 deadline.  Still riled by House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) March 3 invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress, Kerry has been working feverishly to complete an historic deal with Iran.  White House officials insist Netanyahu’s speech tried to sabotage the Geneva talks.

             Republicans on Capitol Hill, led by Senate Armed Service Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), are skeptical of the P5+1 nuke deal that allows Iran to continue enriching uranium, despite a 10 moratorium against spinning weapons grade material.  What Netanyahu said March 3 was that Iran would evade and circumvent the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, continuing clandestine nuclear weapons research.  Brennen offered only vague assurances that the U.S. could still prevent Iran from developing the bomb.  Netanyahu believes that Iran won’t come clean with its secret weapons research designed to build Iran’s first A-bomb.  “President Obama has made it very clear that we are going to prevent Iran having that type of nuclear weapons that they were . . . going on the track to obtain . .  .” Brennen told Wallace.

              When Brennen refers to “that type of nuclear weapon,“ it’s not clear what he’s talking about.  Referring “going on the tract to obtain . . .“ it’s also not clear whether or not Brennen thinks Iran’s pursuing a bomb from some third party like North Korea, China or Russia, or whether or not its clandestine bomb-making program actually exists.  “So if the decide to go down that route, they know they do so at their peril,” Brennen said, unsure what the U.S.—or any other P5+1—could do to stop Iran.  If the Geneva accord doesn’t allow rigorous-and-unfettered IAEA inspections, then the verification mechanism is worthless.  Unlike the White House, the Republican-controlled Congress trusts Netanyahu’s assessment far more than the P5+1, because of Russia’s ongoing business relationship of supplying Tehran with more nuclear reactors and fissile enrichment equipment.

             Brennen’s statements on Fox News Sunday appear to reassure skeptics on Capitol Hill that the White House has things under control.  When Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and 46 other GOP senators wrote a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei March 10 warning Tehran that any agreement would only last for the remainder of Obama’s term, it infuriated the White House.  Telling Obama today on CNN’s “State of the Union” to get over his tantrum against Netanyahu, McCain gave the best rationale for why the Congress had to supercede the White House to conduct U.S. foreign policy.  While the White House keeps whining about Netanyahu or complaining about the Geneva talks, Iran bullies its way to dominance in the Middle East, potentially circumventing U.N. inspectors to continue its clandestine nuclear weapons programs.  McCain told Obama to get over his hurt feelings.

             Obama’s overreaction to Netanyahu speaking to a joint secession of Congress helps make the Republican case why voters in 2016 must pick a Republican president.  With both houses of Congress controlled by the GOP, the Republican National Committee need only argue that no Democrat can break Washington’s gridlock.  If the nation wants to get anything done, as the logic goes, the president must be the same party as Congress.  Lingering acrimony at Netanyahu prompted McCain lecture Obama about his priorities.  He sees the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Russian President Vladimir Putin as far bigger threats than beating a dead horse about Netanyahu.  McCain tried to remind Obama that Israel remains the U.S.’s only seamless ally in the fight against Islamic extremism.  If Obama continues to damage the Democrats’ brand, it’s going to create stiff headwinds for Hillary.

             Brennen’s appearance on Fox News hopes to bolster the White House case for the Geneva nuke deal with Iran.  While Netanyahu warned Congress about Iran’s clear path to a nuke under the P5+1 agreement, Brennen said nothing substantive about how the White House plans to prevent Iran from working on an A-bomb.  “We can now have a better plan and opportunity to verify some of the things that they are saying they are going to do and not do,” said Brennan, giving only platitudes about how the P5+1 plans to verify that Iran isn’t engaged in hanky-panky.  Netanyahu’s only real point March 3 was that the Iranians couldn’t be trusted.  There’s certainly nothing outrageous about that.  What’s become outrageous is the White House feud with the U.S.’s No. 1 ally in the fight against Islamic extremism.  Before Obama makes it impossible for Hillary, he needs to get over his feud with Netanyahu.

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