Lieberman Lays the Groundwork For Another War

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8690

Lieberman Lays the Groundwork For Another War
by RJ Eskow | Jul 13 2007 - 12:23pm

This week Joe Lieberman reprised a role he played so well in 2002. He paved the way for another needless and tragic war by outmaneuvering his Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor. This time he forced them to pass an amendment that seems reasonable on the surface, but which lays the groundwork a a new attack that could turn pro-Western Iranians into anti-American terrorists. It passed just as a new poll confirms that the Iranian leadership's policies are wildly unpopular with their own people.

Lieberman's 2002 "Rose Garden" appearance with Bush - where he endorsed the authorization for war in Iraq without further changes - destroyed ongoing negotiations to limit the President's war options that were taking place between Democrats like John Kerry and Republicans like Richard Lugar. (Kerry described that move - a betrayal of genuine bipartisanship - in our 2006 conversation.) Now he's done it again.

The Lieberman amendment sets the nation up for a Gulf of Tonkin moment - one that can be used to justify military strikes against Iran, with the President reassuring the nation that he has bipartisan support. It was worded in such a way that voting against it would have been political suicide for Senators.

Does that scenario sound familiar?

The amendment sounds reasonable enough on its face. (Text is here.) It asks for bimonthly reports from the military regarding "external support or direction provided to anti-coalition forces by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran or its agents ... the strategy and ambitions in Iraq of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and .... any counter-strategy or efforts by the United States Government to counter the activities of agents of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Iraq."

It was a shrewdly worded document. Any Democrat who voted against it would have opened him- or herself up to accusations that of being afraid to face the facts about Iranian involvement in Iraq. And we know that Iran is involved in Iraq in certain ways. After all, it's been invited there - by the very government our troops are sacrificing themselves to defend. In fact, the Iraqi government is so close to its Shi'ite neighbor that it quickly invited it to open an embassy in Baghdad.

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[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

1. I wonder if * will add some little

signing statement to it also.

[bonito]

2. Passed 97-0 the I senator wants regime change

Predictably, the Lieberman measure passed 97-0. But it's not the reporting requirements themselves that are dangerous - it's the amendment's language. It lists a hodgepodge of undocumented and inflammatory accusations before stating that "the murder of members of the United States Armed Forces by a foreign government or its agents is an intolerable and unacceptable act of hostility against the United States by the foreign government in question." These are words that invite an act of war against Iran, even in the absence of clear evidence of involvement.

[gordianot]

3. If this act would have been 30 years ago we would have attacked Israel

Remember the USS Liberty? At various times we we have been forced to attack North Korea, China, Russia, and probably several of our (former) allies. The Cold War would have ended in a nuclear exchange. Lieberman is more than a hypocrite he is dangerous.