Lieberman repeats calls for action in Iran
STEPHEN SINGER Associated Press Writer
Article Last Updated: 06/16/2007 01:39:49 PM EDT
EAST HARTFORD Sen. Joe Lieberman repeated his warning Friday that "limited
military action" may be needed against Iranian camps suspected of being
used to train and equip terrorists who are killing coalition troops in
Iraq.
Speaking to reporters after an appearance at a rally supporting jet engine
manufacturer Pratt & Whitney's competition for a military contract,
Lieberman said U.S. diplomatic efforts are important, but military action
also must be an option.
Military action should be limited to halting Iranian training of
terrorism, not to eliminate possible nuclear sites, though force could
also stem Iran's nuclear ambitions, he said.
"If we don't figure out first through diplomacy and, if necessary, through
limited military action how to stop the Iranians from killing Americans
and our Arab allies today it's going to be impossible for us to do what
everybody in both parties and all ideologies say we have to do tomorrow,
which is to stop them from getting nuclear weapons," he said.
"Iran has effectively begun to carry out military action against American
soldiers and a lot of our allies in the Arab world and if we just sit back
they're going to continue to move forward," he said. "They're going to
take it as a sign of weakness."
Lieberman first raised the issue of military strikes on Sunday. He said
Friday he did so to introduce the matter into policy discussions in
Washington and "to ask everybody to open their eyes to what's happening
elsewhere in the Middle East."
U.S. and Iranian ambassadors in Iraq met last month for the first public,
substantive high-level discussions the two countries have held in nearly
three decades. Although limited to the topic of violence and instability
in Iraq, the talks have been seen as a possible window to better
relations.
The U.S. accuses Iran of fostering terrorism and Tehran's nuclear
ambitions have brought about international reproach.
Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 who was
re-elected to the Senate last year as an independent, said intelligence
shows that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is responsible for training and
equipping terrorists operating in Iraq and that the head of the
Revolutionary Guard reports to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He cited the violence in Gaza between Palestinian factions and the
assassination on Wednesday of anti-Syrian lawmaker Walid Eido in Beirut.
Iranian support of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon is behind much
of the violence, he said.
"This is outrageous stuff going on and it's going to affect our security,"
Lieberman said.
Earlier, Lieberman, Gov. M. Jodi Rell and officials of Pratt & Whitney and
the Boeing Co. spoke before several hundred Pratt & Whitney employees and
others at a rally to support the two companies' partnership seeking to
build the U.S. Air force's new tanker aircraft fleet.
Boeing would build the KC-767, which is designed for aerial refueling of
aircraft and is able to move cargo, passengers, patients and medical
staff. Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., would
build the engine.
http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_6158706
Yep, ol' "Loose Rocks" Lieberman rides again!! Stevie's got his tongue up
Joe's *****, dreaming of more Middle East warfare. Hey, maybe we can redeem
Bush's disastrous Iraq occupation by bombing Iran, proclaiming some kind
of misgotten victory.
Doc
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