Kerry warns Congress about Netanyahu’s Iran speech, says Bibi pushed US to attack Iraq

US Secretary of State John Kerry has reminded American officials that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is against a nuclear deal with Iran, was also in the US in 2002 to push for the invasion of Iraq.

Netanyahu is set to use his next week’s address to a joint session of Congress to condemn a potential nuclear agreement with Iran.

During a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Wednesday, Kerry warned Congress about the controversial speech.

“The prime minister, as you will recall, was profoundly forward-leaning and outspoken about the importance of invading Iraq under George W. Bush, and we all know what happened with that decision,” Kerry said.

The top US diplomat was referring to testimony on the Middle East that Netanyahu delivered to Congress on Sept. 12, 2002.

During his speech, Netanyahu expressed strong support for Washington to oust former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Six months later, the US military bombarded the country.

“I think the choice of Iraq is a good choice, it’s the right choice,” Netanyahu said in 2002. "If you take out Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region."

Kerry also said on Wednesday that Netanyahu was wrong about Iran too because he had been "extremely outspoken about how bad the interim agreement was, calling it the ‘deal of the century for Iran.’”

The March 3 speech by Netanyahu has made the Obama administration furious as it comes ahead of crucial nuclear negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany that are working hard to reach a comprehensive nuclear accord.

Obama’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the speech has “injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate, I think it’s destructive of the fabric of the relationship.”

Netanyahu, who is trying to put pressure on US officials to stop a final deal, once again defended his trip to Washington on Tuesday, saying he would do everything to prevent the agreement.

"It is my obligation as prime minister to do everything that I can to prevent this agreement. Therefore, I will go to Washington... because the American Congress is likely to be the final brake before the agreement," he said.

President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and John Kerry would not meet with the Israeli leader during his trip.

A number of Democrats announced that they would skip the speech.

Democratic Representatives James Clyburn of South Carolina, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, John Lewis of Georgia, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, and Steve Cohen of Tennessee are among them.

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