LIEBERMAN DOES NOT RULE OUT STRIKE AGAINST IRAN
By Janice Arnold
Canadian Jewish News, Canada
May 2 2007
MONTREAL – Independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman said the
United States may have to resort to military force against Iran
if economic and other sanctions don’t halt its quest for nuclear
capability.
"We can never say we will not use military force to knock out parts
of Iran’s nuclear program and at least delay it… I hope and pray
that we do not get to that point but we may have to," he said in an
April 22 speech at Congregation Zichron Kedoshim before a capacity
audience of nearly 900.
Asked who he thought would strike Iran first, the United States
or Israel, Lieberman replied that his country does not want to
"contract out" an operation so critical to its own security, but
"I don’t think Israel is going to stand back in the face of such an
existential threat."
He said the Bush administration’s attempts to cut off Iran’s
international financial lifelines is "hurting them a bit," and there
are signs of a growing reform movement in Iran that might be able
to overthrow the increasingly unpopular regime of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
On Iraq, Lieberman, a strong supporter of going to war, said that if
the United States withdraws now, it would be a "disaster" resulting in
"chaos" and "ethnic slaughter" in Iraq and possibly more terrorism
on U.S. soil.
Lieberman believes it would be "a tremendous victory for Al Qaeda… It
would say that the U.S. does not have the patience to carry out a long
war… If we just give up, they will follow us back here to the U.S."
Lieberman thinks the United States should wait until at least the end
of August to see if sending thousands of more troops to Baghdad has
a positive effect. He said he believes the intensity of violence in
the last month is a reaction by Al Qaeda to the planned buildup.
"[Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden] is trying to stir up sectarian
conflict and convince the American people there is no winning… The
consequences of a pullout now would be enormously bad."
Lieberman still believes the offensive was the "right thing to do"
because deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had engaged in "ethnic
slaughter, if not genocide" and was "sponsoring terrorism" by paying
the families of suicide bombers.
He acknowledged "terrible mistakes" have been made in the prosecution
of the war, but he feels the United States can’t leave until Iraqis
are capable of assuming responsibility for their own security.
Probably the best-known American Jewish politician, Lieberman was
the Democratic candidate for vice-president in 2000, running with Al
Gore. In 2004, Lieberman unsuccessfully sought the party’s presidential
nomination. He was elected to a fourth Senate term as an "independent
Democrat" last year after he failed to secure the Democratic nomination
in his state.
Islamic extremism is as great a threat to international freedom and
security as Nazism and communism were in the last century, Lieberman
stated. "I disagree with President [George W.] Bush on a lot of policy,
but he understands the threat of Islamic terrorism."
Lieberman called House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s
meeting with Syrian president Bashar Assad "a serious mistake."
"To meet Assad gives him cover and gets the focus off of him,"
said Lieberman, citing the United Nations investigation into Syria’s
possible role in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister
Rafik Harari, its aid to Hamas and Hezbollah, and its allowing
militants to cross its border into Iraq.
When asked, Lieberman did not comment on whether he thought a
Democratic or Republican president would be better for Israel. He
said he’ll wait to see which candidates are chosen before deciding
on who to support.
"But to be fair, both parties have pro-Israel positions. One of
the few areas of bipartisan co-operation in Congress is support for
Israel. That’s because of our values and the fact that the U.S. and
Israel are lead targets for Islamic terrorists," he said, noting that
there are more Christian than Jewish Zionists in the United States.
He indicated he has no desire to be on a presidential ticket again.
"I got that out of my system. Anyway, I can’t find a party that would
nominate me."
Lieberman said he believes Americans are ready to elect a Jewish,
female or black president "depending on that person," and he said he
found great openness during his bid for the White House. He added
that he’s concerned about intolerance being directed at Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney because Romney is a Mormon.
Lieberman denounced former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s book
Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, although he said he has only read
excerpts from it.
"I think it is not based on facts, but a point of view that is
absolutely wrong… The Palestinians have consistently committed
acts of terrorism against Israel, not vice versa. I reject the book
in the strongest terms. I wish he had not written it."
As for Jonathan Pollard, a former civilian U.S. naval intelligence
officer who has been in a U.S. jail since 1986 for spying for Israel,
Lieberman said he is not likely to be pardoned because it would "set
a bad precedent," but he thinks that ultimately "the highest levels
of the U.S. and Israeli government" may find a way to release him as
an act of "mercy."
Asked if he had any regrets in his political career, Lieberman said
it was initially voting against a resolution to memorialize the
Armenian genocide, partly because he did not want to jeopardize
American-Turkish relations.
However, after meeting with the Armenian community and reading
about the history, Lieberman changed his mind and has supported the
genocide’s commemoration.
Lieberman, who was accompanied by his wife Hadassah, gave the second
annual Evelyn and Samuel Margolick Memorial Lecture, which is sponsored
by their son Lionel Margolick, a prominent commercial real estate
developer based in Detroit. Lionel has not lived in Montreal since
leaving to attend the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania in
the late 1960s, nor were he and his late parents members of Zichron
Kedoshim.
He has, however, been friends since childhood with shul president
Norton Segal and was married there in December 2004. Lieberman’s
appearance at the free event proved so popular that the synagogue
had to open up its basement, where the overflow crowd could watch on
a video screen.
Lieberman noted that he has a personal connection to Montreal. Last
August, his daughter Rebecca married Jacob Wisse, son of Montreal
natives Leonard and Ruth Wisse, a professor of Jewish literature at
Harvard University.
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