Democrats Versus the Facts on Iran

Senator John Kerry (D-MA) takes to the opinion pages today to criticize an “inaccurate” debate on Iran’s nuclear program. The facts demonstrate how it is Senator Kerry’s writing and the Obama Administration’s assertions on Iran that are inaccurate.

How Does New START Relate to Iran?

Senator Kerry opens his op-ed by attempting to undermine the credibility of those he disagrees with. He questions a 2010 op-ed on New START, calling it full of “blisteringly inaccurate assertions.” He does not list any of those alleged inaccuracies.

1. An assertion in the 2010 op-ed read: “Under New START, the United States must drastically reduce our number of launchers but Russia will not—it already has fewer launchers than the treaty limits.”

1. The first data exchange after the treaty entered into force makes clear that assertion was entirely correct when it showed the United States currently has 882 deployed delivery vehicles, while Russia has 521—well below the treaty’s limit of 700.

1. Another assertion in the 2010 op-ed read: “[New START] ignores tactical nuclear weapons, where Russia outnumbers us by as much as 10 to 1.”

1. In 2009, the Obama Administration’s head of the National Nuclear Security Administration testified that the difference in tactical nuclear weapons between the United States and Russia is “classified,” but estimated “there’s a 10 to one ratio, roughly, give or take.”

When Did Obama Work with Congress on Iran?

Senator Kerry goes on to assert that President Obama “worked closely with Congress to pass legislation that strengthened existing unilateral sanctions.” It is this statement that is “blisteringly inaccurate.”

1. In 2009 when the Senate was working on a bill to strengthen the Iran sanctions regime, the Obama Administration Deputy Secretary of State wrote to Senator Kerry himself opposing the legislation at issue and asking that it be delayed.
2. More recently when Congress was working on legislation to further strengthen the sanctions regime at the end of 2011, Secretary of the Treasury Geithner wrote “to express the Administration’s strong opposition” to that effort.

Obama Allowed Iran Nuclear Program to Accelerate.

Presidential candidate Obama criticized his predecessor’s policies on Iran, suggesting he could do better with diplomacy. Of course the exact opposite has proved true, as Iran has accelerated its nuclear program under the Obama presidency.

1. Senator Kerry closes his op-ed today by saying, “we need to be clear-eyed about what we have accomplished and what we have yet to do.”
2. Being clear-eyed on what we have “accomplished,” Obama’s own Director of National Intelligence testified just last month it “is precisely the intelligence community view or assessment that to this point, the sanctions as imposed so far have not caused [Iran] to change their behavior or their policy.”
3. Being clear-eyed on what we have yet to do, such as pointing out these inconvenient facts and suggesting different courses of action, would follow the pattern of 2004 presidential candidate Kerry and 2008 presidential candidate Obama.