The Iran Debate
27 September 2007 8:00 am by Taylor Marsh
As far as I’m concerned anyone who voted for Iraq who is willing to vote blindly
for the Lieberman-Kyl legislation didn’t learn anything from their vote. Of course I’m talking specifically about Senator Clinton. We’ll get to the 2013 issue later today.
Edwards nailed it last night.
Clinton’s vote yesterday to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corp as “a foreign terrorist organization” was a blunder of monumental
proportions. She evidently thinks she’s got the nomination locked up and it’s
off to general election mode. It started last Sunday. But the hubris involved
in blithely signing on to the Lieberman legislation shows she doesn’t think
people are paying attention.
Thank the heavens for Senators Biden and Dodd, along with James Webb who got this one right a long time ago.
The urgency of rebutting this slowly sliding bomb Iran narrative has been front
and center for months. But that hasn’t kept the right-wing from pushing the
talking point further and further, which Lieberman, with the help of Democrats,
pushed forward another inch yesterday. The neocons are not deterred by Bush’s
incompetence. This coming weekend Fox “News” channel will do their
part by running a special, “Iran:
Ticking Bomb,” which Sean Hannity happily touts and is eager to promote.
All this saber rattling comes as Secretary
Gates asks for $190 billion more for war funding, with former general Casey issuing dire
warnings about our military forces.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress yesterday to approve an
additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the
Bush administration’s 2008 war funding request to nearly $190 billion — the
largest single-year total for the wars so far.The move came as Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff and former
top U.S. commander in Iraq, warned lawmakers that the Army is stretched dangerously
thin because of current war operations and would probably have trouble responding
to a major conflict elsewhere. “The current demand for our forces exceeds
the sustainable supply,” Casey said yesterday. “We are consumed
with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready
forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies.” …
..
Anyone voting for the Lieberman-Kyl legislation, regardless of the non-binding
nature, is simply ignoring what Bush has done with the authority Congress gave
him on Iraq. Haven’t Democrats learned anything? It’s stunning that Clinton
would look beyond the facts to posture so egregiously, either to make herself
look tough, or to support our Israeli friends. It’s irresponsible and dangerous and also ignores reality.
There are plenty of liberal Israelis who want to stop the cycle we’ve been on in the Middle East and really work for peace. It’s obvious Lieberman isn’t after peace and anyone
following his lead is deluded to think he’s got the answer for the Middle East. All he offers is more war, death and destruction. With the Lieberman-Kyl non-binding legislation we’ve reached a whole new level. The fact that Clinton was willing to go along with it is worthy of magnifying, especially considering her Iraq vote and what’s transpired in between.
