La Salle Political Science Professor Discusses Obama Dealing With Iran To Confront ISIS
By Rich Zeoli
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Rich Zeoli talked to La Salle Professor of Political Science, Dr. Michael Boyle, on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about a secret letter President Obama sent to the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, discussing the Iranians role in confronting ISIS in Iraq.
Boyle explained what the President was trying to accomplish by reaching out to the Iranians.
"We don't know exactly the content of the message. What was leaked out was to say that the United States was looking for some degree of tacit cooperation against ISIS in Iraq. What has come out about the letter was that President Obama was saying that that cooperation, which Iran apparently wants, is contingent upon a nuclear deal. So it looks like what President Obama is doing is using the fact that Iran wants to work with the United States to combat ISIS to put pressure on them to get the deal the US wants on nuclear weapons."
He said that the dire diplomatic dilemma the US is in regarding Iraq has the White House looking for alternative solutions.
"The problem that President Obama is in is that, in some cases, if you're in a relatively desperate situation, if you think the Iraqi government is cratering, and you know that Iran is a power broker with the Iraqi government, you may need the Iranians. I think that's the unfortunate position that he's in. It's not that he necessarily wants to deal with the Iranians. I think he'd rather de-link the two issues, between nuclear weapons and the insurgency. But I think in the position that we're in, with ISIS, sort of, on the march, and the Iraqi government on the back foot, I think that he thinks he needs the Iranians."
Boyle stated President Obama is in a tough spot, trying to fend off ISIS from a weak central government in Baghdad.
"He doesn't want to see the collapse of the Iraqi government on his watch, and I think the problem is that the Iraqi army that the US built during the insurgency fell apart during ISIS' march. So he's now in a position where he doesn't want to be there, but he has to find some way to prop the government up, otherwise, he leaves chaos."
