My colleague Lee Smith has noted that both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bob Menendez both suddenly found themselves in trouble just as the Obama administration was enduring heightened public scrutiny over their attempt to forge an agreement with Iran, and both may well have been voices of opposition. It’s worth noting that another prominent figure who’s could sway opinion against the Iran deal also finds himself in a position where the Obama administration has quite a bit of leverage against him:
Obviously, it’s not known what Petraeus thinks about the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran, but it seems likely he takes a dim view of the Iranian regime. In their new book, ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, the authors recount the following:
Weiss and Hassan also note that a particular problem on Petraeus’s watch was the use of “explosively formed penetrators” — extremely lethal bombs manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Iraq for use by Shia militias. Iran’s decision to acctively supply these bombs resulted in so many U.S. casualties was deemed so egregious some in the military even advocated bombing the EFP factories inside Iran. And Petraeus was outspoken about the Iranian threat to his soldiers.
Of course, there’s no evidence that Clinton, Menendez, and Petraeus find themselves largely muzzled right at the same time the Obama administration is trying forge an Iran deal. But it is certainly a fortuitous coincidence for the White House that three such influential voices are sidelined at the moment.
