THE UNBEARABLE CHUTZPAH OF DENNIS ROSS
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/capitol/dennis_ross_discredited_diplomat_VzRtZiZGuZgs8u7lEixzCJ
Discredited diplomat Dennis Ross is Mr. Chutzpah
Obama’s former Iran advisor Dennis Ross has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that is entitled “On Iran, Pressure Works.” It should have been called “Chutzpah” instead. After all, Ross was the main mouthpiece for a policy that wasted years engaging with Iran, then weakly sanctioning Iran and now claims to favor “pressuring” Iran but without using force.
The plain fact is that Ross’s championing of engagement with Tehran has only served Iran’s purposes and as even Ross now admits, the Iranians are closer than ever to having a nuclear weapon.
Here’s what Ross was selling as good strategy toward Iran over the past three years:
In Sept 2008 Ross wrote that for negotiations with Iran to begin, “Iran would not, for example, have to suspend its uranium enrichment first. But to avoid Iran misreading this as a sign of weakness, pressures must be maintained. […]
“So how to talk and preserve the pressures without making either side appear weak?” Ross continued. “One way to do so would be for the United States to go to the Europeans and offer to join the talks with Iran without Iran having to suspend uranium enrichment. To avoid misleading the Iranians into thinking they had won, the price for our doing this would not be with Iran but with Europe. The European Union would adopt more stringent sanctions on investments, credits, and technology transfer vis-à-vis Iran in general or at least on the Iranian energy sector. The Iranians would be informed that the United States is joining the talks but that these sanctions are now being adopted by all European countries.”
In Nov. 2008 he wrote that “sharp sticks, of course, must be balanced by appetizing carrots. We need to offer political, economic and security benefits to Tehran, on the condition that Iran change its behavior not just on nukes but on terrorism as well. Sticks will show Iran what it stands to lose by going nuclear; carrots will show its leaders what they would gain by moderating their behavior.”
In Dec. 2010 he was still on this ineffective and dangerous path writing that “we wanted to use engagement so we could deal, directly with Iran” and that “Iran has a chance,” said Ross, “to really benefit from the talks in areas like science, technology, etc. and has a lot to gain from the talks.”
Today, Ross wants to make it seem as if nothing has happened in Iran over these past three years. There was no stolen election and subsequent bloodbath in the streets of Iran, there has been no Arab uprising in the rest of the Middle East — an uprising that is looking more and more like it could very well move in Iran’s favor. Ross seems to have forgotten that threats against Israel and the United States have continued from Tehran, that the Iranians have a US drone they are stealing technology and information from and finally that the Iranians are now closer than they have ever to having a nuclear weapon.
Ross and Obama’s Iran policy gave that regime the time it needed to keep pushing their nuclear program forward and they’ve taken the opportunity. The fact that it seems as if the mullahs still haven’t closed the deal isn’t a win for the Obama administration.
Ross is Mr. Chutzpah if he thinks he can come now, after pushing a policy that granted Iran more time and say he has the solution to this crisis. Ross is a failed peace negotiator when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians and he’s done no better with the Iran portfolio.
When he resigned his position with the State Department he said it was to spend more time with his wife. He should do that and in a hurry.
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