Senate Republicans this week are taking aim at President Obama’s Middle East policy, which they have criticized as too passive in the face of multiple threats from Iran and the Islamic State, and an assertive Russian posture in the region.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has summoned Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to appear Tuesday to discuss the issue as a prelude to a deeper exploration Thursday of alternatives to the president’s global strategy.
Since taking over in January, Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has scheduled a series of hearings designed to critique what he said last week was the administration’s “seeming inability or unwillingness to think about our national security challenges as anything other than a litany of individual crises requiring ad hoc, micromanaged responses.”
Obama’s approach to the Middle East has drawn particular scorn from Republicans, as well as some Democrats, who see the fight against the Islamic State faltering and Iran growing stronger and more assertive, rather than more cooperative, since reaching a nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers in July.
“In a display of self-delusion that can rival the Bush administration’s Iraq policy at its worst, the Obama administration now tells us their strategy is working, that we are making progress, that time is on our side, that strategic patience is all we need, and that we should just stay the course,” McCain said at a committee hearing in September.
Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile is set to brief the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in closed session on Syria Tuesday after returning over the weekend from talks in the region focused on that issue and the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence.
The administration has angered many Republicans with its insistence on staying the course in Syria, even after Russia’s military intervention there, and its failure to counter Iranian rearmament and aggressive behavior as administration officials repeatedly and publicly promised they would do once the nuclear deal was concluded.
At a news conference Friday in Vienna, Kerry raised new concerns when he would not rule out giving Iran a role in peace talks world leaders are hoping to convene this weekend, in spite of the fact that Iran has been a strong backer of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
“For the moment, Iran is not at the table, and there will come a time perhaps where we will talk to Iran, but we’re not at that moment at this point in time,” Kerry said.
On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations panel also will delve into Middle Eastern strategy with retired Gen. John Allen, who’s leaving his post as coordinator of the fight against the Islamic State next month, and Anne Patterson, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.
