Democrat Congressman Marty Meehan has argued along with others that the US military's forward deployment was so stretched out that it was having an impact on the way a decision on Iran would have to be factored.
"We have 140,000 troops in Iraq .. recruitment is down in our military... We need more soldiers and Marines, and we're having difficulty doing that because of the war in Iraq. But this idea that we can simultaneously have a war in Afghanistan and Iraq and then deal militarily with Iran, I don't think that's viable at this point," Meehan told CNN.
He said he hoped that there would be a 'new policy', a 'new strategy' in Iraq so that the US was able to get its military to meet "challenges in the rest of the world".
Meehan alleged the Iranian nuclear programme represented a "national security threat" to the US. "I think we need a sense of renewed engagement with our allies. We have to show, I think, more strength, and it may be a case where sanctions, we can look at, but we need a renewed effort," he added.
Republican Congressman Chris Shays, a critic of the administration on Iraq, slammed the UN and Europeans on Iran even as he poked holes on US intelligence on that country.
"I think the UN has shown itself to be somewhat impotent, and Western Europe is simply tentative beyond measure. They do not want to confront Iran, and they do not want to help us in
Iraq, and that's a huge message to the Iranians, that they're the players in that area" Shays said, adding intelligence on Iran could be better.
"...there are huge holes," said Shay in reference to intelligence. "If you're not in a country, you don't know much about it, and you get it third hand. That was our problem with Iraq..."
He argued for diplomatic relations with Iran, saying, "When we have diplomatic relations, we have people on the ground. We have our intelligence community working in our embassies... Our relations with Iran diplomatically has been pathetic for decades, not just with this administration. But this administration ousted the Iranians in terms of their nuclear programme," the lawmaker maintained.
He also asked the administration to "reach out to moderates in Iran. I also think, frankly, that our foreign policy hasn't worked very well. I think Iran has actually been helped by our efforts, a lack of competent efforts in Iraq," Shays said.
He said the US also needed to improve its assistance to southern Lebanon because "that is also serving to empower Iran" and engage allies and moderate Arab states to prevent Iran "developing nuclear weapons."
Former United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector David Kay asked whether the US was "willing to pay the price" of using the military option.
© 2026