Conservative Review - Ted Cruz Scores Another Foreign Policy Victory

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By Daniel Horowitz

One week after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced legislation to fine the State Department for delaying its annual report on Iran's human rights record, the Obama administration is acceding to his demand and finally producing the report.

This is the latest in a series of foreign policy victories achieved by Cruz through a political engagement strategy with the Obama administration of peace through strength.

After delaying the release of the report since late February, apparently in an effort to play nice with Iran, the State Department is scheduled to release the report on Thursday. This comes just one week after Cruz introduced the Human Rights Accountability Act, which would have cut the State Department's budget by 5% for every month they continued to delay release of the report. Cruz's tactic of shaming the administration for their appeasement and enacting deserved consequences has similarly netted results earlier this month when the Department of Defense was forced to release the annual report on the military power of Iran -- another report they delayed for months.

"It is unfortunate that it took the threat of a fine to get the Department of State to release the Annual Human Rights Report, but after their June 9th response to my request I felt there was no choice," Cruz told Conservative Review. Existing statute compels them to provide Congress with this information and while some delays might be understandable, to be unprecedentedly late this year was unacceptable.

Indeed, hard-ball tactics and aggressive messaging gets the job done.

Existing statute compels them to provide Congress with this information and while some delays might be understandable, to be unprecedentedly late this year was unacceptable.

Senator Ted Cruz

Once again, Senator Ted Cruz is showing that a conservative can serve as an effective voice in the Senate, even as a member of the minority within bipartisan oligarchy. For all the talk about Cruz being relegated to a mere bomb thrower, he has already accrued a number of foreign policy victories. And he hasn't done so by being obsequious to the ruling class.

Here are just four examples of how Cruz has been able to use non-traditional methods to rack up foreign policy victories:

Blocked Iranian Terrorist: Last year, the government of Iran appointed Hamid Aboutalebi, a terrorist involved in the 1979 attack on the U.S embassy, as their ambassador to the United Nations. Of course, everyone condemned the choice and expressed deep concern. But it was Cruz who took the initiative to draft a bill stripping this terrorist of a visa needed to land in New York. None of these members who expressed contrived outrage had the guts to take a bold stance, but when Cruz asked unanimous consent to pass the bill, none of them had the temerity to oppose him.

Defeated IMF Bailout: Around the same time, in 2014, the liberals in both parties snuck a provision into a Ukraine aid package that would have bailed out the International Monetary Fund while weakening our standing in the organization. Cruz sent a letter to then-Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) warning that he would block this sacred bipartisan bill if the IMF provision was not removed. Initially, only a few Republicans had the courage to join him in raining on the ruling class parade, and some like Senator John McCain even lambasted him for the effort. Ultimately, through blunt force and the effective use of outside messaging -- making an end-run around traditional ruling class tactics -- Cruz killed the IMF provision.

Ended Embargo on Flights to Israel: Last July, Obama sided with Hamas in their aggression against Israel, even as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, and the UAE were supporting the Jewish state. One of the more disconcerting acts of this administration was when he instituted a de facto embargo against Israel by ordering the FAA to stop all flights into Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Instead of wringing his hands and expressing grave concerns, Cruz threatened to place a hold on all State Department nominees until the FAA provided answers on how it arrived at this unprecedented decision. Within a few days, the FAA restriction was terminated.

Restored Purple Hearts for Fort Hood Victims: There have been a number of Islamic terror attacks perpetrated on America soil since 9/11. While the media, and often the government, refuse to recognize the nature of these attacks, their omission is seldom as consequential as it was with the 2009 attack on Ft. Hood. By designating the attack as "workplace violence" instead of a terror attack, the Army was denying the victims the Purple Heart medals they deserved. But after successfully amending last year's National Defense Authorization Act to redress this egregious mis-designation, Cruz forced the Army secretary to issue Purple Hearts.

There is the false notion in the media and among some figures in the conservative intelligentsia that one must be a collegial governor in order to be effective and govern prudently. They also believe that someone who is too combative will never make a good president. The reality is the opposite. The only way to accomplish anything with this increasingly fringe liberal oligarchy in Washington is to shame them into acquiescence, not engage on their terms.

When it comes to foreign policy battles with the ruling class, Cruz has clearly demonstrated that blunt force and public pressure is more effective than backroom horse trading.

"I actually find it encouraging that we can get to bi-partisan agreement on vital issues of national security," said Cruz. "Certainly issues like Russia, Iran and Israel unite the Republican caucus, and we are always pleased when our colleagues across the aisle join with us to defend America's national security. But these also tend to be common sense issues that the American people have a pretty good understanding of, and I have found they are not shy about expressing their opinions to their elected representatives."

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