Sent to you by Sean McBride via Google Reader: McCain: ‘Let’s Cut Off’ All Ties To Iran, ‘Diplomatic, Trade, You Name It,’ ‘Basically Isolate Them’ via Think Progress by Ali on 10/3/08 Yesterday, Sen. John McCain met with the editorial board of the Denver Post. Discussing Iran, McCain took an extreme hard-line approach, saying the U.S. should “cut off” all ties to Iran, including “diplomatic” ties:
Let’s cut off all kinds of credit to ‘em, all kinds — diplomatic, trade, you name it. Basically isolate them. Because they are in violation of solemn agreements that they entered into, concerning nuclear weapons. And so I really believe that we could have an effect on Iranian behavior. Listen here: Later in the interview, when asked how he could impose sanctions without Russia and China agreeing, McCain replied, “I’m not exactly sure.” Instead, he restated his “radical” and “dumb” idea to create a “League of Democracies” as a way to push his extreme approach to Iran. McCain said that the U.S. should “at least try this” extreme isolation of Iran, seemingly unaware that such isolation has been the exact policy of the Bush administration. Only after years of failure — and a strengthened and emboldened Iran — have members of Bush’s team finally recognized the need to engage Iran. In other words, McCain is now more extreme on Iran than the Bush administration: ADM. MIKE MULLEN, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair: I would like to have a healthy dialogue with Iran…I do think engagement would offer an opportunity, certainly, to understand each other better. [6/21/08] ROBERT GATES, Defense Secretary: We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage…and then sit down and talk with them…If there is going to be a discussion, then they need something, too. We can’t go to a discussion and be completely the demander, with them not feeling that they need anything from us. [5/14/08] NICOLAS BURNS, Undersecretary of State for political affairs: There is a choice: confrontation or diplomacy. We prefer diplomacy and we are trying to open two diplomatic channels — on the nuclear issue and on Iraq. [5/2/07] The call to move away from the isolationist policy McCain hopes to revive has been endorsed by five secretaries of state, including McCain adviser Henry Kissinger, as well as McCain’s own neocon foreign policy adviser Robert Kagan. McCain’s “let’s completely isolate Iran” approach makes him even more radical than President Bush, who last year said, “We can have meetings. Talking is not the problem. We can talk to Iran.” Things you can do from here: - Subscribe to Think Progress using Google Reader - Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites
