Coats: U.S. Strategy on Iran Badly Overdue

Nuclear Theatre Poses Grave Danger to Stability of Middle East, U.S. Security

INDIANAPOLIS (April 19, 2010) – In a September 2009 Wall Street Journal op-ed published in conjunction with a report on Iran’s nuclear program, Dan Coats and his co-authors stated it was “now time to devise a new strategy” on Iran. Unfortunately Saturday, the New York Times reported “Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned…that the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran’s steady progress toward nuclear capability…”

This follows news last week that Iran has ‘fully mastered’ the technology to render nuclear energy – and perhaps nuclear weapons – and underscores the importance of a clear strategy in terms of Iran’s motivations and capabilities.

Dan Coats, candidate for United States Senate, released the following statement in response to these developments:

“This should not come as news: Iran continues to pose a grave threat to the entire Middle East, and in particular, our ally Israel. Unless firm actions are taken immediately the entire situation has the potential to spin rapidly out of control and force the United States into a precarious position.

“President Obama and his allies in Congress have allowed Iran to continue spinning its centrifuges – moving towards full nuclear capability – while they focused on a massive, overreaching health care plan filled with nineteen tax increases and irresponsible federal spending.

“In February 2009, President Obama was firm with Iran. He said we would “use all elements of American power to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.” Since then, foreign policy and national security have been forgotten in the Obama Administration. The clock is ticking, we must act now.”

Background
Dan Coats is co-author of a series of reports beginning in September 2008 commissioned by the Bipartisan Policy Center on the threats posed by Iran, including ‘Meeting the Challenge: Time is Running Out’ released in September 2009. Coats and his co-authors briefed both campaigns in 2008 and outlined steps the United States should take in order to stop Iran’s nuclear program before they were capable of possessing a nuclear weapon.

In a Washington Post op-ed with his co-authors in conjunction with the reports’ release, they wrote, “As we noted in a report for the Bipartisan Policy Center last week, which was based on an in-depth study of Iran’s known enrichment capacities and uranium stockpile by a respected nuclear power expert, we believe Iran will be able to produce a nuclear weapon by 2010.” (Washington Post, ‘Last Chance for Iran,’ 9/21/2009)

In addition, they said allowing Iran to possess nuclear weapons, “would embolden Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups, destabilize the region, upset global energy markets, and spark a wave of proliferation across the Middle East. Moreover, if we do not act quickly and credibly to address this threat, we run the very real risk of Israel taking matters into its own hands.” (Washington Post, ‘Last Chance for Iran,’ 9/21/2009)

Speaking to Human Events in February 2010, Coats said, “We could have ratcheted up diplomatic efforts, built sanctions efforts and a lot of pressure on Iran. Instead, we fool around with trying to resolve some kind of language in the United Nations that says ‘No, no. Don’t do that. (which they obviously pay no attention to). We have not put enough pressure on our allies to put pressure on Iran. We have not imposed the kind of biting sanctions that can leverage them into a position of putting the squeeze on them in terms of whether they were going to go forward with this or accept embargo gasoline supplies, embargo on shipping oil out of the country. (Human Events, Exclusive: Dan Coats Says Ramp Up Pressure on Iran, 2/25/2010)

Noting that he briefed both presidential campaigns during the 2008 campaign cycle, Coats said, “And that was pushed aside and not done. They’re still fiddling around with something we didn’t even recommend: Put out an open hand and see if Iran would respond.” (Human Events, Exclusive: Dan Coats Says Ramp Up Pressure on Iran, 2/25/2010)

He continued, “The unknown factor in all of this is the situation the Israelis are in, sitting there looking at the nation that’s proclaiming it wants to eliminate that country from the face of the earth. And that’s the kind of threat that I think America has not understood.” (Human Events, Exclusive: Dan Coats Says Ramp Up Pressure on Iran, 2/25/2010)

“An Iranian attack on Israel would cause chaos in the Middle East, enormous disruption of our economy, and eliminate an ally that’s stood by us through thick and thin almost when it came to second Holocaust. That is not acceptable for Israel. That cannot be acceptable for the United States. So we absolutely have to, I think at this point, very significantly ramp up the pressure against Iran. Because living with the unacceptable, accepting the unacceptable, is unacceptable…” (Human Events, Exclusive: Dan Coats Says Ramp Up Pressure on Iran, 2/25/2010)

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