Dennis Ross as "Special Advisor" to Hillary Clinton Greeted With Incredulity by Iran
| Dennis Ross has been shoehorned by Hilary Clinton and the State Department into the Iran diplomatic mix. His selection is being greeted with skepticism by the Iranian government and critics in this country. As a signatory to the Project for the New American Century, the think tank and manifesto of failed and disgraced warmongering neocons pushing American militarism, his selection is certainly questionable. IPS News reports: "Announcing the long-anticipated appointment, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said that Ross would offer "strategic advice" and perspective on the region, coordinate new policy approaches and take part in "inter-agency activities." " 'It would have been so much better to pick Ariel Sharon or Ehud Olmert as special envoy to Iran,' joked Kazem Jalali, a conservative member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran’s Parliament. " 'The appointment of Dennis Ross, whose track record shows his unacceptable radical viewpoints about Iran, is inconsistent with Mr. Obama’s claims about his willingness to create change in Iran-U.S. relations and contains no positive messages for Iran,' Jalali told IPS in a telephone interview from Tehran. "Ross, who is currently a counselor at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, served as the point person on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush administrations. He has advocated tough policies to force Tehran to halt its nuclear programme, which Iranian authorities have repeatedly said is for peaceful purposes. "After former Senator George Mitchell, who was appointed special envoy to the Middle East, responsible for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and experienced diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who was a key figure in the Clinton administration's effort to end the war in Bosnia, appointed as special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ross is the third appointee on the Persian Gulf region, including Iran and southwest Asia. " 'The priority for the Obama administration will be on the U.S. and world economy and they don't want to try to make major foreign policy moves at the same time they are concentrating on rebuilding the economic structure of the world,' Prof. William Beeman, a specialist in Middle East Studies at the University of Minnesota, told IPS. 'The administration does not expect him to do anything dramatic.' "Beeman believes that Ross’s anti-Iran background could be an obstacle to initiating constructive talks. 'It is widely known that he is unacceptable to Iran, and no one believes that he can advance U.S. -Iranian relations,' he said, adding that, 'He is signatory to the Project for a New American Century, which called for the invasion of Iraq in the 1990s, and a consultant to the AIPAC-supported Washington Institute for Near East Policy.' " 'The problem will arise if Netanyahu precipitates a crisis,' stated Beeman. 'It is a gamble, but if the U.S. does not seem to be too friendly toward Iran, it may keep the Israelis from panicking and taking some rash military action.' "Others believe that Ross’s appointment might actually prove effective. 'President Obama cannot bring in untried people and run them against the Democratic Party, because if there is an opening with Iran, there will be a connivance of Israel, maybe a silent one, simply because the Israelis have to go along,' Robert Baer, a former top Central Intelligence Agency operative and the author of "The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower", told IPS." |
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