by Yoni Hirsch, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, says Iran is "enriching uranium beyond any plausible peaceful purpose" and that diplomatic efforts and sanctions are not working • Mattis: Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would be the "most destabilizing event that we could imagine for the Middle East."
Gen. James Mattis, left,
accompanied by Navy Adm. William McRaven, commander, U.S. Special
Operations Command, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday.
|
Photo credit: AP  |
The Obama administration's program of
sanctions and diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from gaining nuclear
capabilities is not working, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East
told a Senate committee Tuesday, adding that Tehran has a history of
denial and deceit and is "enriching uranium beyond any plausible
peaceful purpose."
Marine Gen. James Mattis, the outgoing
commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East and South Asia, said it
still may be possible to use sanctions and other pressure to bring
Tehran "to its senses." But he also warned that he believes Iran is
using the ongoing negotiations to buy time.
"That should not be in any way construed as we
should not try to negotiate. I still support the direction we're
taking," Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I'm just —
I'm paid to take a rather dim view of the Iranians, frankly."
Mattis at one point was asked point blank by
Republican Senator James Inhofe whether he thought diplomatic efforts
and economic sanctions were working to stop Iran from obtaining a
nuclear weapon.
"No sir," he said.
“Good,” Inhofe replied.
According to Foreign Policy, Mattis is due to
leave his command soon, following much reporting (and some speculation)
that the White House was pushing the revered marine general out a few
months earlier than planned because he was believed to be too hawkish
toward Iran than the administration preferred.
The Obama administration has not ruled out
military action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And,
under questioning from senators, Mattis said the U.S. military has the
ability to bring Iran to its knees.
"There are a number of means to do that," he
said, "perhaps even short of open conflict. But certainly that's one of
the options that I have to have prepared for the president."
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, asked what
the U.S. needs to do to prove that it is serious that it will not accept
a nuclear-armed Iran.
"I fear that if they (Iran) continue to use
negotiations to delay, that we will be at a point where they have
nuclear-weapons capability, and then it's too late," Ayotte said.
Mattis said that if Iran is allowed to develop
a nuclear weapon, another country in the region has already pledged to
do the same.
"At least one other nation has told me they
would do that. At a leadership level, they have assured [me] they would
not stay without a nuclear weapon" if Iran had one, he said, without
naming the country, although it is widely assumed that Saudi Arabia
would seek nuclear arms should Iran have them.
Mattis did not identify the regional actor to
which he was referring, but answered in the affirmative after Sen.
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked if it was a "Sunni Arab state." And Mattis
said he didn't believe it would necessarily end there, saying other
"non-Sunni Arab states in the general region" may seek a similar
capability.
Mattis said he feared that Iran obtaining a
nuclear weapon would be the "most destabilizing event that we could
imagine for the Middle East."
Mattis spent much of the hearing discussing
budget cuts in the United States that prompted a decision to reduce the
U.S. aircraft carrier presence in and around the Gulf from two to one
aircraft carriers. Mattis said the cuts, known in Washington jargon as
"sequester," would hurt the military but warned potential adversaries
that he could respond, if needed, to any scenario.
"I would just caution any enemy that might
like as an opportunity to take advantage of this situation, that that
would be very ill advised," Mattis said.
"If the president orders [us] into action, I
have what it takes to make it the enemy's longest day and their worst
day. And we'll get the other carrier out there quickly to reinforce."
Mattis also painted a daunting portrayal of
events on the ground in Syria, where he said the situation was too
complex at this point for him to support arming rebels battling Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Mattis said the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps is “both on the ground [in Syria] and are
bringing in foreign fighters.”
"We don't want to inadvertently, with the best
of intentions, arm people who are basically sworn enemies," he said
before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Iran supports Assad and Mattis predicted that a
fall of the Assad regime would represent a major setback for Tehran,
prompting an Iranian backlash that would see it arming militias in Syria
to "try to create a Lebanese-Hezbollah-type effect."
"The collapse of the Assad regime, sir, would
be biggest strategic setback for Iran in 25 years," Mattis said in
response to a question from Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island.
Asked by Reed whether the United States would plan for that scenario explicitly, Mattis responded: "And we are, Senator."
Mattis said "quiet planning" was also underway
with regional allies for potential stability operations if needed after
the Syrian regime's collapse, and pointed to regional organizations
like the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as groups
"that may be able to take this on."
"We are doing some planning with the regional
militaries and getting basically a framework for what this would look
like," he said.
Still, Mattis said the situation in Syria
remained "fundamentally unpredictable," even though Assad's power base
and geographic area of control were eroding.
Asked how long he believed Assad could hold
onto power, at least in a sub-region of Syria, Mattis said: "I really
don't have the ability to forecast this well, Senator."
"I'd hate to give you some kind of certainty that I don't sense right now," he said.
Yoni Hirsch, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=7759
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment