“Every day Saddam remains in power with chemical weapons, biological weapons, and the development of nuclear weapons is a day of danger for the United States.” - Joe Lieberman
In the end not one of those threats turned out to be current or credible.
It’s absurd to be surprised, by an easily observable pattern. If a person exhibits a characteristic, they are likely to repeat it. For example: don’t leave an alcoholic alone in a liquor store.
That’s why it’s so sad that the filibuster made Joe Lieberman indispensable to democrats in this last session of Congress… He should never have been left in charge of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security.
He was strangely determined, misguided and wrong on the facts when it came to security issues last time around and that promotion has allowed him to amplify the effects of those repeatable characteristics. Through the bully pulpit of his committee chairmanship, Lieberman has been adamant in attempting to revive the lot of the Neo-cons and their desire for constant conflict.
As far as Lieberman is concerned it is time to get ready to invade Iran.
Despite the fact that the country is already out of money from our last ill-conceived, poorly executed and ultimately murderous military expedition, he’s been on tour sowing the seeds for another bout of armed adventurism.
At the Council on Foreign Relations last week, he shared pearls of wisdom gathered on a Middle-East walkabout.
I have been struck as I have traveled in the region in recent months by what seems to me to be a heightened uneasiness about the future of American power there. Behind closed doors, one hears an unmistakable uncertainty about our resolve and staying power.
God forfend that American military virility be perceived as lacking staying power.
To prevent that, Lieberman believes we must again show the Muslim world just exactly how assertive the United States can be.
It is time to retire our ambiguous mantra about all options remaining on the table. It is time for our message to our friends and enemies in the region to become clearer: namely, that we will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability…with military force if we absolutely must.
I understand that Lieberman has a profound concern or the welfare of Israel, but is there really any evidence that Israel is safer post Iraq invasion? Is peace and stability really what a reasonable person would foresee as the result of a third US military invasion in the middle east?
No, it isn’t desirable for a despotic and dishonest regime like the theocracy of Iran to have fissionable materials, but is a financially exhausted, recession prone, culturally and politically fragmented United States really perpetually responsible for stability and security on the other side of the planet?
I think most Americans feel that deficits and unemployment are the real threats right now.
It’s time to focus on America’s decrepit infrastructure, profoundly diminished middle-class, and failing social safety net, and give regime change a rest.
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