Fox's Rosen falsely suggested GOP lawmakers generally agree with McCain on Iran

On the June 22 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Washington correspondent James Rosen reported that "GOP lawmakers ... began dialing up their criticism of the president for supposedly not standing up forcefully enough for the protesters" in Iran, and aired quotes from Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to illustrate his point. But Rosen did not note that the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Richard Lugar (IN), has repeatedly agreed with President Obama's position on the situation in Iran since that nation's June 12 elections sparked protests. The Politico has further reported that several other Republicans, including Sens. Mel Martinez (FL), Bob Corker (TN), and John Thune (SD), agree with Obama's position on Iran. Indeed, in a June 17 article, the Politico quoted Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) saying, "[T]here are different views within the Republican Conference" on the issue.

As the Think Progress blog has noted, in a June 16 interview on CBS' The Early Show, co-anchor Harry Smith asked Lugar: "Beyond watching -- beyond what President Obama said last night and being disturbed at the pictures he's seen, beyond supporting the idea that these disputed votes should be recounted, is there anything the United States can do?" Lugar responded: "No. I think, for the moment, our position is to allow the Iranians to work out their situation. When popular revolutions occur, they come really from the people. They're generated by people power within the country. For us to become heavily involved in the election at this point is to give the clergy an opportunity to have an enemy." In its June 17 article, the Politico reported that Lugar said "Obama's handling of the situation was 'about right.' " And on the June 21 edition of CNN's State of the Union, Lugar endorsed Obama's policy of negotiation with Iran, saying: "We would sit down because our objective is to eliminate the nuclear program that is in Iran."

Moreover, Rosen ignored other conservative voices who have publicly taken exception with McCain's criticisms of Obama. For example, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has stated that Obama's response "was the right thing to do," and also said: "I was a McCain supporter, and -- but I think the president has handled this well. Anything that the United States says that puts us totally behind one of the contenders, behind [Iran opposition leader Mir Hossein] Mousavi, would be a handicap for that person."

Additionally, as Media Matters for America has noted, several conservative media figures have criticized Republican politicians for deeming Obama's reaction to unfolding events in Iran to be overly cautious. For instance, The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan wrote that "John McCain and others went quite crazy insisting President Obama declare whose side America was on," and that their criticisms were an example of "Aggressive Political Solipsism at work: Always exploit events to show you love freedom more than the other guy, always make someone else's delicate drama your excuse for a thumping curtain speech." MSNBC's Pat Buchanan said that "it was very, very irresponsible for John McCain to say some of the things he said so early," and Republican strategist Karen Hanretty stated that "turning [the Iranian situation] into a partisan debate, I think really devalues what's happening."

MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman (FL), also stated on June 22, "My good friend Lindsey Graham calls the president, 'weak and tepid.' Lindsey should know that anything Lindsey Graham from South Carolina says is going to be used from [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad and other Iranian leaders that want to keep these peace marches down." Scarborough added: "[F]or those Republicans who claim that the world doesn't know what side we're on, I would suggest that you are living in an alternative universe."

From the June 17 Politico's article:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, told POLITICO that the situation in Iran "clearly deserves a more forceful response" from President Barack Obama.

Yet Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), when asked if Obama should be more forceful on Iran, answered: "Absolutely not."

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said he's "not ready to criticize the president on Iran," while Texas Sen. John Cornyn, another member of the GOP leadership, criticized Obama for not yet recognizing that "clearly that's not a democracy you can deal with."

And two of the most influential GOP voices on foreign policy, Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar and Arizona Sen. John McCain, are on opposite sides. McCain, Obama's 2008 rival and the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, told NBC on Tuesday that the United States should make clear that it backs anti-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demonstrators in their battle against "an oppressive, repressive regime."

Lugar, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, told POLITICO that Obama's handling of the situation was "about right."

[...]

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said, "We should leave no doubt in anyone's mind ... that we stand with the people."

"I'm just thinking of President Reagan -- he engaged fully with the Soviet Union to great effect while at the same time describing them as an evil empire, saying they would end up on the ash heap of history," said Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and has sparred with them over his more hawkish foreign policy views. "That's not a bad model."

But Martinez and others who agree with Obama say if the U.S. appears to be strong-arming the nation, it would effectively make Ahmadinejad appear the victim -- and pit his regime against the United States, a potentially destructive situation.

"I really believe what he said [Monday] was very appropriate -- on the one hand, making clear that we're not going to interfere with their sovereignty, ... but I also think it was equally important that he spoke heartily" for the opposition protesters.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, said he "couldn't find tremendous flaw with [Obama's] comments" but said that over the next several months, "there is going to be an opportunity for our country to be far more forceful with Iran."

And South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a member of the GOP leadership, said the election results would cause a "big ripple effect" and "should change the way we deal with Iran in the future."

"But I'm not sure in the near term, right now, there's a whole lot that [Obama] could be doing that he is not doing now," Thune added.

Hearing the divergent voices within his party, Alexander, the Senate GOP conference chairman, admitted that "there are different views within the Republican Conference."

From the June 22 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier:

[begin video clip]

ROSEN: In a paper statement Saturday, Mr. Obama called on the regime to cease its, quote, "unjust actions." That followed an interview, taped Friday, in which the president again explained his measured tone as a hedge against those in Iran who might cast the internal upheaval there as an American plot.

OBAMA: That's what they do. That's what we're already seeing.

ROSEN: But GOP lawmakers also began dialing up their criticism of the president for supposedly not standing up forcefully enough for the protesters.

GRAHAM: They're basically asking us for us to speak up on their behalf, and I appreciate what the president said yesterday, but he's been timid and passive more than I would like.

ROSEN: Reading Twitter messages on the Senate floor, a leading Republican invoked the memory of Neda, the iconic victim of the Iranian crackdown, calling her a kind of Joan of Arc.

McCAIN: Neda died with open eyes; shame on us who live with closed eyes.

ROSEN: The number two official at the State Department said Iran is not a partisan issue. Privately, senior U.S. officials recognize the prospects for engagement with the regime have been complicated if not damaged by the bloodshed and the stridently anti-Western sermon Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei delivered on Friday. Publicly, however, American diplomats continue to hold out hope for dialogue.

IAN KELLY (State Department spokesman): We have made a strategic decision to engage on a number of fronts with Iran, and we tried many years of isolation, and we're pursuing a different path now.

[end video clip]

ROSEN: Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton herself was back on the job today following that accident on Wednesday, in which she broke her right elbow and for which she underwent surgery on Friday. Aides said she was receiving briefings on Iran all weekend long from her top adviser on the subject, Dennis Ross.

Today, the White House released two still photographs showing the secretary wearing a cast on her right arm as she wrapped up a meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office, Bret