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Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Cruz’s Demagoguery on Israel and Iran

No one should ever take anything Cruz says on foreign policy (or on anything else) seriously.
Senate Vote
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 27: Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, speak to the media after the Senate voted to pass the continuing resolution. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (Newscom TagID: rollcallpix079693.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]

Ted Cruz reminds us that he is a liar:

This is an unprecedented attack on a critical ally of the United States at a moment of international crisis. It is a de facto admission to the mullahs in Tehran that the Obama administration thinks it is too late to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons [bold mine-DL]. It is an inexcusable betrayal of the national security of the American people.

We all know that Cruz is a demagogue, so it isn’t surprising that he is grossly misrepresenting the contents of this story for his own purposes. However, it does get a little tiresome that he is allowed to circulate blatant falsehoods without the slightest accountability. The report he is referring to does not say that the administration believes it is too late to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The anonymous official quoted in the story was making a claim about Israel’s ability to launch a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The official said nothing that could be interpreted to mean that Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons could not be prevented. The point the official was crudely making was that Netanyahu has staked out a public position against this outcome, but lacks the willingness to follow through on his rhetoric. More to the point, the official was quoted as saying that this was the good thing about Netanyahu: “he’s scared to launch wars.” Indeed, that is a good thing.

That doesn’t mean that Iran is going to acquire nuclear weapons. It does mean that Israel isn’t going to launch an attack in a vain attempt to prevent that outcome. It suggests rather that the administration will be able to pursue negotiations with Iran to reach a final agreement on the nuclear issue without the threat of an Israeli attack hanging over everyone. Cruz pretends not to understand any of this, and insists that there has been some “inexcusable betrayal.” Cruz can’t be so ignorant as he pretends to be in this piece, and so he must be attempting to deceive the public. This is why no one should ever take anything Cruz says on foreign policy (or on anything else, for that matter) seriously and why he can’t be trusted.

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