March 8th, 2012

Rep. Mike Rogers: US must have “credible military option” against Iran

On Starting Point, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) talks with CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien about Iran and Syria.

Rogers says, “I do believe with a high degree of confidence that there were activities [in Iran] that were related to their nuclear weapons program. What they were is still up for some debate. But, clearly, that’s one site that they were engaged in some activity. And there are several different avenues that they’re pursuing all at the same time, enrichment being one, missile testing being another, and then weaponization.”

He continues, “I wish we would draw [sanctions] a little tighter. There are things that we can do starting in July we can move up on the timetable and continue to put pressure on them. But they are very clever, and they understand if they can delay a little bit, they can continue to work on their program.”

“I believe that if this is going to work we have to have a credible military option. Meaning, Iran has to believe that we’ll do something if they continue to pursue down this path. So continue sanctions and then show that the United States is serious when we say all options on the table. We can’t say all options on the table, oh, by the way, Israel, we don’t want you to do anything. That’s not very credible. So we need to make our argument credible.”

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs week mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.