Mitch McConnell’s claim that President Obama is politicizing the debate over the Iran nuclear treaty is particularly hypocritical, even for the Senate majority leader.

I recall the memoirs of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who each told of being approached by McConnell in 2006.

Concerned about Republican losses in the midterm elections, McConnell suggested reducing the number of troops in Iraq (which would, of course, have been a good political move with independent voters). However, he was at the time publicly calling for maintaining troop levels, which would keep conservatives happy.

From various sources, we know of a meeting of top congressional Republicans on the night of President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009.

Their goal was to plan opposition to President Obama’s legislative agenda. It did not matter what the legislation was or how badly it was needed to repair the devastated American economy – they would oppose everything. McConnell’s deputy, Sen. Jon Kyl, attended that meeting.

The Republican philosophy, developed in large part by McConnell, was simplicity itself: Republican leaders would say they wanted to work with the president but do everything in their power to kill any Democratic legislation.

Retiring Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio in 2012 confirmed that this approach of simply opposing all Democratic initiatives, refusing to compromise, was exactly what Republican congressional leadership wanted.

We now know it is likely that every Republican senator, including Maine’s Susan Collins, will vote against the Iran nuclear treaty, thereby making diplomacy versus likely escalation a partisan issue.

These senators stand in opposition to Nobel physics laureates, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, numerous publications such as The New York Times and Foreign Policy and hundreds of faith organizations, as well as the governments of Germany, Russia, China, England and France.

Yet McConnell accuses the president of playing politics. The mind boggles.

Fred Rotondaro

chair, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good

Southport