Obama pivots on Iran?
posted at 9:07 am on June 4, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Barack Obama will make an appearance today at the AIPAC conference, attempting to convince the pro-Israeli lobby that he fully supports Israel and stands against her enemies. That will take a nifty bit of pivoting, as Danielle Pletka notes in today’s Weekly Standard. On Iran, he has managed to get to Dick Durbin’s left in opposing an amendment that urged the State Department to name Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, which passed despite Obama’s objections:
The story begins nine months ago, when the Senate took up debate on the so-called Kyl-Lieberman amendment–a bipartisan measure that urged the U.S. government to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
These designations are more than just rhetorical; labeling the IRGC as a terrorist organization brings to bear a range of powerful sanctions that crack down on its ability to work in the global financial system.
The proximate cause of the Kyl-Lieberman amendment was a growing dossier of evidence from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, documenting the IRGC’s role in financing, training, arming, and directing extremists in Iraq responsible for the murder of hundreds of American and Iraqi soldiers and civilians.
Of course, that’s not the full extent of the IRGC’s malign influence. The group is an acknowledged supporter of terror (a fact even Senator Obama concedes), training, financing and arming Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and most recently, the Taliban. At home in Iran, the IRGC now dominates the regime, with 9 out of 21 seats in the Ahmadinejad cabinet held by former IRGC and IRGC-affiliated officials. The IRGC is also a vital player in Iran’s licit and illicit economies, and dominates important sectors like construction.
Needless to say, the Kyl-Lieberman amendment won broad support in the Senate, passing 76-22. Senator Hillary Clinton voted for it, as did Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Senator Dick Durbin.
Senator Obama, however, was one of a handful of senators who opposed the amendment–which had aroused the ire of the left-wing blogosphere. In the frenzied minds of DailyKos and Moveon.org, Kyl-Lieberman–or “Lieberman-Kyl,” as they preferred to call it–was nothing less than a stealth declaration of war on Iran.
The offending clause (a non-binding Sense of the Senate) suggests that the U.S. military presence in Iraq “will have critical long-term consequences for the future of the Persian Gulf.” It emphatically does not suggest either that we “use our military presence in Iraq to counter the threat from Iran,” as Senator Obama’s website falsely claims, or that “we should maintain our forces in Iraq with an eye toward blunting Iranian influence,” as Senator Obama frets.
That reading of the amendment is incomprehensible to most, including Durbin, the senior senator from Illinois and one of Obama’s chief supporters. “It’s rare that Barack and I disagree on an issue of this magnitude,” Durbin told Bloomberg Television at the time. “I have the same concerns that Barack Obama does about this administration and what they might do with the power that they have. But I don’t think this resolution gives them a green light to do anything.”
This misreading of the amendment speaks to a larger, deliberate obtuseness on Obama’s part. The Iranians are the largest sponsor of international terrorism in the world, and the evidence of this is both public and large. In order to fight terrorism, we need to at least honestly acknowledge Iran’s role in it and take steps to limit it. Kyl-Lieberman attempted to do just that in a non-violent manner, working through other options intended to limit their ability to fund terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
There are only two reasons to oppose the application of sanctions on Iran. Either one wants to go to war and skip all of the other options, or doesn’t believe Iran to be a threat and a sponsor of terror. Into which group should we put Barack Obama?
I think we can safely say that he belongs in the latter group. During the campaign, Obama attacked Hillary repeatedly for her vote on Kyl-Lieberman, and he undoubtedly will do the same with McCain. He famously intoned that Iran wasn’t a threat in Oregon, a position he abandoned 24 hours later when this YouTube hit the blogosphere:
The people at AIPAC suffer no such delusions. Iran uses its proxies to fight a continuous war against Israel and Western interests in the region. Asymmetrical threats don’t rely on size or even a lot of cash, but on infiltration and terrorism. Obama’s refusal to hold Iran accountable even in a non-violent manner doesn’t bode well for his stewardship of foreign policy in an age of terrorism, and AIPAC knows that.Watch Obama attempt to pivot today in his speech. Suddenly he will talk about the “grave threat” emanating from Tehran and attempt to convince his audience that he is tough enough to face down the mullahs. Obama couldn’t even face down MoveOn when it came time to apply tough sanctions against the terrorist-management structure in Iran.
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interesting that I’ve seen you criticize christians multiple times, but never criticize muslims…
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:17 PM
There there, you can have your own country because it suits our end time philosophy…
Would you support Israel if Revelation stated that the Jews must still be in the diaspora for the end times?
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:18 PM
The absence of true love it not hate. Reading your fear of persecution into my words again.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:19 PM
from your link:
uh yeah they were trying to block a parade and the christians were:
Christians have been arrested recently at “gay” festivals for nothing more than having a protest sign that is “wider than their torso,” but now police have gone even further, targeting Bible-carrying ministers for praying on public property and for standing on a public sidewalk near a “gay” festival.
One of the new cases comes from Elmira, N.Y., where police arrested seven Christians who went into a public park where a “gay” fest was beginning and started to pray, faces down, while holding their Bibles.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=42442
not ‘blocking a parade’ just going into a public park and praying, holding their bibles…I can see why you think they should have been
persecutedarrestedright4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:20 PM
uh hate to tell you, but yes.
you really should read Romans sometimes.
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:20 PM
No, I imply that Israel suits you purposes, this is why those yearning for the end-times are so great in their support for Israel.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:21 PM
again more hatred of christians. the UN and Harry truman approved the state of Israel…didn’t know he was in on the ‘neocon’ conspiracy….
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:22 PM
So because World Net Daily says so, I buy into their account.
I have seen alot of Preacher Protests, few were civil and quietly standing their with their signs.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:24 PM
blockquote>No, I imply that Israel suits you purposes,
wrong again. Israel suites HIS purposes.
whether Israel exists or not, whether I get raptured or die slowly and horribly, I’ll still be HIS and thats all that counts.
what we’re yearning for is HIS RETURN everything else is superfluous
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:24 PM
oh yeah I forgot, they’re in on the neocon conspiracy to rule the world and force Jesus to return!!
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Thanks for the history lesson.
Clarification: I am speaking of the support for the state, not the formation.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:25 PM
yeah and you want to silence christians…perhaps you even have a ‘final solution’ in mind for us!
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:26 PM
Continuing to throw strawmen. Watch out they are flammable.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:26 PM
again we support Israel and the jews because of what is written in Romans…try reading it sometimes.
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:27 PM
Nope. You keep on comparing yourself to the Jews in the Holocaust, you just make yourself look foolish.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:27 PM
you have no reason to doubt what is in WND…only your hatred for christians blinds you to what is going on.
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:28 PM
I critisize Jihadi’s all the time, you choose to only notice my critisisms of Evangelicals because of your Kleenex skin.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:28 PM
christians have had holocausts of their own…now in the Sudan, previously in armenia, Russia, China, its not a new phenomenon
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:29 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA, I suppose you think Fox News and CNN are reputable news sources as well.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:29 PM
never saw it.
I do tend to notice blatant hatred….
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:31 PM
thanks for proving you are a left-wing wacko. and yes you hate christians, and yes you think we want to kill 2/3 of the jews to force Jesus’ return.
nut job.
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:31 PM
I’m sure the urbane intelligent, sophisticated germans thought the same thing in the 30s…
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 1:32 PM
You will never believe I do not hate Christians. Therefore my time has been wasted for the last several hours. Have a nice day right…
Id say I’ll pray for you but you wont believe me there either…
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:33 PM
But they would be wrong since pogroms in Germany were quite common. Hitler even used Luther’s own writings to justify…
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:34 PM
Ummmm ok….
Hope my wife does not think that I belong in the 2/3. She might kill me in my sleep.
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:35 PM
I have and for the record, I acknowledge your point…
I assume you refer to Romans 9:11?
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:38 PM
Fixed sorry
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Read the whole damn Times article and must have missed references to Iranian ordnance. I saw nothing about it. Are you claiming that because the administration uses military experts to support policy, that all information from the military is tainted? Your other two links don’t exclude Iranian involvement overall,..just in those instances. Try again.
a capella on June 4, 2008 at 1:41 PM
Bye all, sorry we hijacked the thread…
Squid Shark on June 4, 2008 at 1:41 PM
YOU might that tripe but most others would think otherwise. The real world does not revolve around you little book of fiction but your free to believe as you wish.
Annar on June 4, 2008 at 2:15 PM
I always here this, but Luther didn’t like the jews on theological grounds, Hitler didn’t like them on racial grounds. Hitler’s comlaint was on darwinian, not christian gounds.
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 2:28 PM
you’ll find out, the hard way probably, it does.
right4life on June 4, 2008 at 2:28 PM
hey chill out, both of you its not like you’re arguing about something important like . . . soccer!
infidel2 on June 4, 2008 at 2:53 PM
J_Gocht on June 4, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
One of my top 25 favorite movies.
That “bandito” was trying to claim he and his boys were the “law”. Fred C. Dobbs,(Humphrey Bogart), asked to see their badges. The “bandito” replied, “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges.”
Chimpy on June 4, 2008 at 3:24 PM
a capella on June 4, 2008 at 1:41 PM
I give a link about a factory in IRAQ manufacturing EFP’s.
Another link from May 8 2008 that shows how hard the admin was trying to make the claim about Iran, and then when it’s time to lay the cards on the table, they bail because, “When U.S. explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all.”
RE: “the administration uses military experts to support policy”
Insert WITH CONFLICTS OF INTREST after “military experts”.
How easily we forget, Mushroom Cloud, Aluminum Tubes, Strategic connection to AQ, Slam Dunk, The WMD”s are north, south, east and west of Baghdad, etc, etc, etc.
Have you ever heard of the “Black Market”? I’m sure the military has found some US made weapons in Iraq along with weapons from other countries. That doesn’t mean those countries supplied them. The US is the largest arms seller in the world.
Chimpy on June 4, 2008 at 3:57 PM
I guess all those Iranian special forces personnel we’ve captured in Iraq were just simple blackmarketeers, huh? Moonlighting away from their regular jobs without supervision?
a capella on June 4, 2008 at 4:33 PM
Luther’s dislike may have had theological origins but he manifested it by calling Jews swine and the devil’s people. Luther’s statements about burning synagogues were used by church leaders following Kristallnacht to justify the treatment of the Jews.
dedalus on June 4, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Give me a link to back that up!
Chimpy on June 4, 2008 at 8:35 PM
I’m with
I have some really good evangelical Christian friends, the hugest supporters of Israel, and they focus on the verse from Genesis, 12:3, “I will bless them that bless thee, and them that curseth thee I will curse,” and they hold that the Jews are G-d’s “chosen people.” Precisely what that means to them, I’m not sure, but given the verse they’re connecting it to–I’m confident that their intentions are good. So, they want to bless Israel, and they will be blessed–I don’t begrudge them that little bit of enlightened self-interest.
Here’s what floors me. It’s always these agnostic Jews who are all bent out of shape about the eschatological designs that they imagine evangelicals have on Jews. Religious Jews tend not to be similarly threatened. The agnostic Jews don’t believe one word of it yet somehow they are threatened by it. It’s to laugh–it’s so absurd. I mean, if I lived next door to some kind of self-styled shaman, and he insisted on giving me $10k because his reading of the ashes in his fireplace told him that he would have many large-breasted wives in the afterlife if he did so, but I wouldn’t so he had to give me this money as compensation up front–I’m not going to stand their yelling, “Don’t use me as a pawn in your necromantic schemes sir!” Heck no, I’m taking the $10k, wishing him and his future wives well, and heading for Bimini. I’m don’t mean to imply an equation between my crazy shaman and Christian endtimes theology. My point was that the typical affronted agnostic liberal Jew wouldn’t believe in the “reality” of Christian endtimes any more than he believes in the shaman’s afterlife–yet manages to be offended by it. Pul-eeeze.
FTR, the guy who is the top liason for AIPAC to the evangelical community is a friend of mine, and he can’t get enough of their support, both financial and political. He goes to churches all over the place giving talks and he loves it–he gets such a great reception every time.
smellthecoffee on June 5, 2008 at 12:42 AM
Not to mention the fact that God wins (the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in the end.
God made a couple of promises to Israel:
1) He was tired of their unfaithfulness and promised to scatter them. (He did over 2,000 years ago.)
2) In the end of times He promised to restore the nation and then NOBODY would be able to ever defeat Israel again.
After 2500 years of Israel not existing, and over a thousand years of Hebrew not being spoken by the Jews of Israel, both have happened. These are exciting times indeed.
Mojave Mark on June 5, 2008 at 1:32 AM
please post the list of these church leaders, and their denominations.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 8:58 AM
very true, its like the atheists being so offended by hell.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 8:59 AM
Ahh the “its not my denomination” defense.
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 9:50 AM
I am not an agnostic Jew. I am fairly observant (not as much as I would like to be but I am trying). i am not threatened by anything, I certainly do not hate evangelicals (as right would suggest)
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 9:53 AM
actually its ‘ahhh put up or shut up’
since you jumped into a question not directed at you, try answering the question (for once)
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 10:21 AM
laughable.
beyond laughable.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 10:22 AM
oh yeah, try answering these questions from the previous page, which you didn’t manage to do…(why is that??)
Connie, it is that the only reason this support comes is because Israel is the key cog in the end-times philosophy. It is rather patronizing to many of us.
first, how do you know that? and even if its true, why is that patronizing?
Even better, all of the Christians leave the Isreal the “love” so much to be betrayed and destroyed by the anti-Christ.
this shows pure hate. again, how do you know that christians really hate israel, which is what you imply? you also imply that we are using jews to usher in the end times, just as the liberal wackos do.
————————–
you’re a typical left-wing wacko, throw out accusations, then when called on it, run onto the next topic.
amusing, but predictable.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 10:25 AM
I explained why it is patronizing…
It is not indicative of all evangelicals…I sincerely apologize for that generalization.
Watching Hagee enough will leave you with a pretty good impression. Ending his Apocalyptic sermons with phrases like “This is why support for Israel is so important!” goes to the heart of the matter IMHO…
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 10:33 AM
I will admit when I am wrong (see above). How about you apologize for you unacceptable statement that I hate Christians…
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 10:35 AM
so supporting Israel becaue you believe they have a place in God’s plan for the apocalypse is ‘patronizing’
but believing they have a place in God’s plan because of any other reason than the apocalypse is not..
uh yeah…
ps: hagee is convenient punching bag, but we could get into an entire discussion of about whether what Hitler did, or any other atrocity is part of God’s plan, or outside His will, or allowed by God.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 10:44 AM
I absolutely will if you disavow the following:
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Bishop Martin Sasse published a compendium of Martin Luther’s antisemitic statements right after Kristallnacht’s violence. In the foreword to the volume, he applauded the burning of the synagogues and the coincidence of the day: ‘On November 10, 1938, on Luther’s birthday, the synagogues are burning in Germany.’ The German people, he urged, ought to heed these words ‘of the greatest antisemite of his time, the warner of his people against the Jews.’”
Erich Koch, the Reich Commissioner for Ukraine and President of the East Prussian Protestant Church Synod wrote:
Hans Schemm became Bavarian Minister of Education and Culture. Throughout the Reich, Germans particularly knew Schemm for his slogan, “Our religion is Christ, our politics Fatherland!” He writes:
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Taken completely out of context, of course, You were trying to use the Rapture as the reason for it being OK to support Israel, knowing it will be destroyed in the end-times.
This was meant to disarm that argument. I dont believe in the Rapture, so it does not mean anything to me because I dont think it will happen, but you wanted to use it as a cop-out, saying that you couldnt do anything about Israel being betrayed because you wouldnt be here…
Not you problem, right…Or did I misunderstand?
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Hagee is by far the most popular and visible “Apocalype” Preacher, he is not a punching bag, he is the best example due to the sheer volume of available material.
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 10:52 AM
interesting that you would provide no link for that article…
what you left out is:
According to Daniel Goldhagen, Bishop Martin Sasse, a leading Protestant churchman, published a compendium Luther’s writings shortly after Kristallnacht
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Wikipedia, its almost like having no source at all.
Fair enough…
However, the use of Luther by Nazis to justify their BS is still quite prevalent. I tried to stick to clericals as requested.
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:04 AM
now you’re lying….
absolute lie. you really are a lying nut job.
you were responding to the following:
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:05 AM
BTW, is your name Dr. Gannon, I feel like you are my thesis advisor…
“Where is the source!”
Just messing around, trying to lighten up a little… :)
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Your links would seem to reenforce my assertion…
The rapture makes this not you problem? Correct or no?
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:08 AM
uhhh I used far more than wikpedia…
and Richard Steigmann-Gall is an anti-christian nut-job.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Clearly I am misreading this statement.
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:10 AM
only in your deluded mind.
uh what happens to Israel is not my problem no. since I am not a citizen of that country.
whether the rapture happens or not, whatever its timing is, there is nothing I can do about what happens to Israel. and no it is not ‘my’ problem.
if you are really upset by the prophecies of what happens to Israel, perhaps you should talk to Jesus who gave them.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:11 AM
I will admit that luther used anti-semitism, and that Hitler used Luther. but to call someone in the Deutsche Christen movement a ‘prominent protestant’ is unbelievable.
this isn’t a christian denomination, rather a nazi political movement to hijack christianity.
The Deutsche Christen, or German Christian Church which integrated and redefined traditional Christianity to include and align with the Third Reich. The doctrines of the Deutsche Christen were meant to replace centuries old doctrine. Many of the beliefs were anti-Semitic and defined as heresy. Christ was re-interpreted as the Nietzchean ’superman’, an Aryan of the highest order and not a Jew
http://www.shoaheducation.com/deutschechristen.html
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:15 AM
So this second Christmas of Hitler’s war finds Niemoller and upwards of 200,000 other Christians (some estimates run as high as 800,000) behind the barbed wire of the frozen Nazi concentration camps. Here men bear mute witness that the Christ—whose birth the outside world celebrates unthinkingly at Christmas—can still inspire a living faith for which men and women even now endure im prisonment, torture and death as bravely as in centuries past.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,765103-1,00.html
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:20 AM
from the same article…
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Seems we all are, touche, there is no defense to that!
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:38 AM
right,
You visions of persecution are starting to cloud you vision again…
I am not and have not ever discounted the role of the good christians and others (even a few Muslims in the Balkans as I recall) who fought the Nazis.
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:41 AM
he is. he blames christianity for naziism. while of course ignoring the whole darwinist/eugenics side of naziism.
read the whole article, you probably won’t find a better one describing the relation of the church to hitler.
I’m not the only one who thinks so apparently…
This article questions Richard Steigmann-Gall’s claim that leading National Socialists were essentially ‘Christian’ and that neo-pagan ideas played an insignificant role in the ideology of nazism.
http://jch.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/42/1/59
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 11:43 AM
A flat out lie, you lying nutjob :)
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Completely ignoring everything I am saying…
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Sorry, I thought you were talking about me since that is the classy phrase you use to describe me as well.
Squid Shark on June 5, 2008 at 11:57 AM
I think we’ve beaten this one to death…
take care.
right4life on June 5, 2008 at 12:04 PM
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