Rep. Jane Harman on Iran

Jane Harman is known as a Democratic centrist. She supported the war in Iraq but now sounds a bit more like the admirable Jack Murtha, a conservative Democrat who also voted for the war but who has been listening to the generals and, for the last six months, now believes it's time to start bringing the troops home. Rep. Harman wrote an opinion piece on Iran a few days ago; here it is in the Agonist:

Listen carefully in Washington these days and you're likely to hear a faint drumbeat for war.

If this sounds a bit familiar, that's because you've heard it before. Nearly four years ago, the Administration began to make the case for invading Iraq. We were told that Saddam Hussein was refusing to give up his weapons of mass destruction, that he wouldn't comply with international arms inspectors, and that he was harboring terrorists. We were also told that the people of Iraq would be so appreciative of the "liberation" of their country that they would greet us with flowers.

Today, a similar drumbeat is building for Iran.

(snip)

The Bush Administration's incompetence and arrogance have undermined stability in the region. Donald Rumsfeld is the architect of the war and he should be fired.

A smart policy on Iran must begin with good intelligence. Before the drumbeat for war gets any louder, I'm demanding more accuracy and less hype.

That's why I strongly supported an Amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act that would require classified quarterly reports to the Intelligence Committees on Iran's nuclear program. The Republican-led Rules Committee chose not to allow the House to debate that Amendment -- a move that I deemed so egregious that I voted against the Intelligence funding bill for the first time in my career.

We have little clarity on Iran's capability and intentions. This is not the time to talk of war.

It's a good piece but it should be noted that Rep. Harman is in a primary against a strong critic of the war in Iraq. But maybe that's the point. It's time for every member of Congress to think clearly about our policy in Iraq and our foreign policy in general, given the growing criticism of the administration's blunders in Iraq and its many misleading statements before the war, and given the growing concern about possible war in Iran either this year or next.

A growing number of people recognize that what this country needs is a Congress with backbone that is capable of holding in check Bush's reckless and incompetent behavior. For five years, Republicans have demonstrated that when it comes to Bush, they have no backbone. Now that they are in danger of losing elections this fall, Republicans will likely be putting on a charade for the next few months in an effort to make voters forget the failures of the last five years. In the case of Democrats like Jane Harman, the issue is more complicated; it will be up to the voters to decide if Rep. Harman has the backbone to stand up to Bush or not, and whether her recent comments are a real step in the right direction.