Gemunder Center Iran Task Force in Washington Post on Iran and Gaza
Bipartisan indictment of Iran and Gaza policies
By Jennifer Rubin July 28 at 6:32 PM
On Monday, a panel of bipartisan experts hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, including the president’s former senior adviser on the Middle East, Dennis Ross, agreed essentially with two propositions. First, President Obama is blowing it on Iran. Second, his conduct on the Gaza war isn’t helping matters.
Bipartisan indictment of Iran and Gaza policies
By Jennifer Rubin July 28 at 6:32 PM
On Monday, a panel of bipartisan experts hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, including the president’s former senior adviser on the Middle East, Dennis Ross, agreed essentially with two propositions. First, President Obama is blowing it on Iran. Second, his conduct on the Gaza war isn’t helping matters.
On Iran, Ross put it this way: “What can be different in the next 4 months? . . . We need to find a way to put pressure on the Iranians. Based on what we saw in the first six months, more has to happen than the [existing] sanctions.” Council on Foreign Relations expert Ray Takeyh, who has advised both Democrats and Republicans, agrees. He says, “Obviously we did not have the leverage. How do I know this? There was no deal.” And former ambassador Eric Edelman, who served in the Bush administration, concurred, arguing that the focus must be on “what changes the dynamic” in order to do what the administration says it seeks to accomplish, a substantial rollback in Iran’s nuclear capacity.
There is widespread concern about several aspects of the interim agreement.