US senator backs military strike on Iran
US senator backs military strike on Iran
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: June 10 2007 19:11 | Last updated: June 10 2007 19:11
Joe Lieberman, an outspoken Congress hawk, on Sunday proposed that the US bomb Iran to stop alleged support for Iraqi militia.
The Democratic senator, who ran independently in the 2006 midterms after losing his party’s support, came close to suggesting in a television interview that the US take military action to stop Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons programme.
“I think we’ve got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq,” Mr Lieberman told CBS. “And to me that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people to kill our soldiers.”
Mr Lieberman is believed to be the first leading US politician to call publicly for Iran to be bombed over its actions in Iraq. But his views reflect growing anger and frustration in the administration and military.
One senior official told the FT the US believed Iran was providing Chinese-made armour-piercing weaponry to Iraqi militants.
Talks opened between the US and Iranian ambassadors in Baghdad last month, and Mr Lieberman said he was still in favour of talking to Iran.
Asked to comment on Mr Lieberman’s remarks, the White House said: “We want the Iranians to play a constructive role in Iraq. US ambassador Ryan Crocker gave them that strong message when he met with the Iranian ambassador in May.
“The president has made it clear we want to do everything to protect our troops and that’s why he authorised Ambassador Crocker to open a dialogue with the Iranians.”
Iran denies arming and training Iraqi Shia militia. Mr Lieberman said he had just returned from a tour of the Middle East, including Israel. He accused Iran of backing extremists in Iraq and Lebanon and supporting Hamas attacks against Israel and Palestinian US allies.
“By some estimates, [Iranian-trained Iraqis] have killed as many as 200 American soldiers,” Mr Lieberman said. “Well, we can tell them we want them to stop that. But . . . we can’t just talk to them. If they don’t play by the rules, we’ve got to use our force. And to me that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they’re doing.”
Asked if he was suggesting an attack by ground or air, Mr Lieberman said he would leave that to the generals, but he thought “a lot of it” could be done from the air. Not to take action would be seen as a sign of weakness, he said.
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: June 10 2007 19:11 | Last updated: June 10 2007 19:11
Joe Lieberman, an outspoken Congress hawk, on Sunday proposed that the US bomb Iran to stop alleged support for Iraqi militia.
The Democratic senator, who ran independently in the 2006 midterms after losing his party’s support, came close to suggesting in a television interview that the US take military action to stop Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons programme.
“I think we’ve got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq,” Mr Lieberman told CBS. “And to me that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people to kill our soldiers.”
Mr Lieberman is believed to be the first leading US politician to call publicly for Iran to be bombed over its actions in Iraq. But his views reflect growing anger and frustration in the administration and military.
One senior official told the FT the US believed Iran was providing Chinese-made armour-piercing weaponry to Iraqi militants.
Talks opened between the US and Iranian ambassadors in Baghdad last month, and Mr Lieberman said he was still in favour of talking to Iran.
Asked to comment on Mr Lieberman’s remarks, the White House said: “We want the Iranians to play a constructive role in Iraq. US ambassador Ryan Crocker gave them that strong message when he met with the Iranian ambassador in May.
“The president has made it clear we want to do everything to protect our troops and that’s why he authorised Ambassador Crocker to open a dialogue with the Iranians.”
Iran denies arming and training Iraqi Shia militia. Mr Lieberman said he had just returned from a tour of the Middle East, including Israel. He accused Iran of backing extremists in Iraq and Lebanon and supporting Hamas attacks against Israel and Palestinian US allies.
“By some estimates, [Iranian-trained Iraqis] have killed as many as 200 American soldiers,” Mr Lieberman said. “Well, we can tell them we want them to stop that. But . . . we can’t just talk to them. If they don’t play by the rules, we’ve got to use our force. And to me that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they’re doing.”
Asked if he was suggesting an attack by ground or air, Mr Lieberman said he would leave that to the generals, but he thought “a lot of it” could be done from the air. Not to take action would be seen as a sign of weakness, he said.
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