I’ve always thought that Republican foreign policy had the opposite effect than what was intended. George W. Bush pushed us into war with Iraq to make sure they didn’t have WMDs (so he said anyway). They didn’t have WMDs and they were cooperating (kinda) with inspections. Countries with nuclear weapons – Pakistan, India, North Korea – always get a pass or at least get to the negotiating table. I don’t know what incentive a country would have to cooperate (we’ll bomb you anyway) but huge incentives to build nuclear weapons.
The neocons never, ever quit. It doesn’t matter how wrong they are, they just keep pushing. Their newest project is war with Iran. Yes, because the wars with Iraq and Afghanistan have been so beneficial to world peace. I figure it’s about the only spending that Republicans like. Let’s call it their stimulus program.
In September, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) declared, “It is time to retire our ambiguous mantra about all options remaining on the table,” and tell the Iranians that we will prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability “with military force if we absolutely must.” Lieberman restated this view in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this morning.
Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) took it upon himself to make U.S.-Iran policy, insisting that “containment is off the table,” and saying that the U.S. should go to war with Iran “not to just neutralize their nuclear program,” but to “neuter that regime.”
Speaking in New Orleans last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added his voice to the pressure effort, saying, “If the international community, led by the U.S., wants to stop Iran without resorting to military action, it will have to convince Iran that it is prepared to take such action.”
Even the font of the most conventional of conventional wisdom, David Broder, has been pushing for a war with Iran. Luckily for us, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is not susceptible to the neocons, saying that war with Iran won’t deter their nuclear arsenal and will bring together a divided Iran.
Also, I’m really amused at the lead-in to Lieberman’s WSJ op-ed: “Back to a Bipartisan Foreign Policy”
Success in Afghanistan requires the president and the new leadership in Congress to stand together against antiwar Democrats and isolationist Republicans.
Warmongers unite! So, Lieberman is admitting there’s already a bipartisan consensus against war. He’s trying to gather together the pro-war Democrats and Republicans. Unfortunately for him, a lot of those pro-war Democrats were defeated in November. Lieberman must be feeling lonely.