Archive for September 30th, 2010

Senator Joseph Liebermann on the Iranian nuclear program:

We have now come to the moment in this long struggle when the Iranian regime must understand that we will not wait indefinitely for sanctions to work. As my colleague in the House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, warned last week, we are talking about months, not years. I therefore hope that President Obama will conduct an assessment at the end of this year just as he did last year to determine if the current strategy towards Iran is working. If it has not produced meaningful change in Iran’s nuclear weapons policy by then, we will need to begin a national conversation about what steps should come next.

This inevitably will involve consideration of military options. I agree with President Obama that the use of military force is not the “ideal way” to stop the Iranian nuclear program. But nothing is more corrosive to the prospect of resolving this confrontation peacefully than the suspicion among our friends and enemies in the Middle East that in the end, the United States we will acquiesce to Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapons capability. If a nuclear Iran is as unacceptable as we say it is, we must be prepared to do whatever is necessary to prevent the unacceptable.

It is time for us to take steps that make clear that if diplomatic and economic strategies continue to fail to change Iran’s nuclear policies, a military strike is not just a remote possibility in the abstract, but a real and credible alternative policy that we and our allies are ready to exercise if necessary.

It’s time to retire our ambiguous mantra about all options remaining on the table. It’s 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 period — by peaceful means if we possibly can, but with military force if we absolutely must. A military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities entails risks and costs — I know that — but I am convinced that the risks and costs of allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapons capability are far greater.

Council on Foreign Relations: Sen. Lieberman Addresses U.S. Power in Middle East

Aus dem Land / Das sich selbst zerstört / Und uns den way of life diktiert / Da kommt Reagan und bringt Waffen und Tod / Und hört er Frieden / Sieht er rot / Er sagt als Präsident von USA / Atomkrieg ? – Ja / Bitte / Dort und da / Ob Polen / Mittler Osten / Nicaragua / Er will den Endsieg / Das ist doch klar.

Der Klassiker unter Freunden des Fremdschämens: