Clinton campaign releases joint statement from 10 allies lambasting Democratic rival as unprepared to manage foreign policy

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at the University of Chicago on September 28, 2015. (JTA/Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at the University of Chicago on September 28, 2015. (JTA/Scott Olson/Getty Images)

 

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a joint statement Tuesday from 10 former US foreign policy officials excoriating her rival Bernie Sanders’ stated plans for dealing with Iran and Islamist terrorism, should he be elected president.

The letter maintains that the Vermont senator is unequipped and unprepared to handle the most pressing national security issues of the day, particularly the Iranian regime’s attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon and impose its hegemony in the Middle East, as well as the growing threat of the Islamic State terrorist group.

“We are concerned that Senator Sanders has not thought through these crucial national security issues that can have profound consequences for our security,” the former US diplomats and security officials said.

In addition to characterizing the presidential candidate’s “lack of a strategy for defeating ISIS,” another abbreviation for the Islamic State, the group of Clinton allies lambasted Sanders’ policy proposals relating to Iran, particularly his call for normalized ties with the Islamic Republic.

“Senator Sanders’ call to ‘move aggressively’ to normalize relations with Iran — to develop a ‘warm’ relationship — breaks with President [Barack] Obama, is out of step with the sober and responsible diplomatic approach that has been working for the United States, and if pursued would fail while causing consternation among our allies and partners,” the statement said.

Moreover, the former officials catalogued other grievances with Senator Sanders’ policy proposals for the region.

Smoke rises as Iranian protesters upset over the execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran, Sunday, January 3, 2016. (Mohammadreza Nadimi/ISNA via AP)
Smoke rises as Iranian protesters upset over the execution of a Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran, Sunday, January 3, 2016. (Mohammadreza Nadimi/ISNA via AP)

 

“For example, his call for more Iranian troops in Syria is dangerous and misguided and the opposite of what is needed. Supporting Iranian soldiers on Israel’s doorstep is a grave mistake,” they added. “And while we support de-escalation of Sunni-Shia tensions, his argument that Iran and Saudi Arabia — two intense adversaries — should join together in a military coalition is just puzzling.

“Indeed, the Iranian government recently failed to stop protesters from ransacking and burning the Saudi embassy in Tehran, after which Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Iran.”

The statement was signed by Jeremy B. Bash, former chief of staff to the director of the CIA and former chief of staff to the secretary of defense; Rand Beers, former senior US government official in the Obama administration; Daniel Benjamin, former coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department; Ambassador Nicholas Burns, former under secretary of state for political affairs during the George W. Bush administration; Derek Chollet, former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs; Kathleen H. Hicks, former principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy; Lt. General Donald Kerrick (Ret.), former deputy national security advisor; James N. Miller, former under secretary of defense for policy; Julianne Smith, former deputy national security adviser to the Vice President Joe Biden; and Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, former under secretary of state for political affairs and one of the key negotiators in the nuclear deal with Iran.

Most of the signees have worked in the administrations of President Bill Clinton, or under Clinton during her tenure as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

The statement came with just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, the first contest of the primary election season, and as Sanders has been narrowing Clinton’s lead in the polls.

According to a recent Monmouth University poll, Clinton has 52 percent support with Democratic primary voters nationwide and Sanders with 37 percent. Since the same poll was taken in mid-December, Sanders has climbed by 11 percentage points.

The Sanders campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

As reported by The Times of Israel