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Sen. Lieberman: Confront 'Proxy War' by Iran
Sen. Joe Lieberman repeated his call for the United States to consider a military strike against Iran, saying Tehran is waging a "proxy war" by stoking anti-coalition violence in Iraq. Citing new reports from U.S. military officials about how Iran is fostering terrorism in Iraq, Lieberman, I-Conn., said America must confront the threat posed by Tehran. Iranian forces helped plan one of the most sophisticated militant assaults of the Iraq war - a January raid in which gunmen posed as an American security team and launched an attack that killed five U.S. soldiers, an American general said Monday. Lieberman said the news was a "wake-up call" to the United States.
Story Continues Below Military strikes may be needed against Iranian camps suspected of being used to train and equip terrorists who are killing coalition troops in Iraq, Lieberman said. But he stopped short of outright calling for such an attack. "The United States government has a responsibility to use all instruments at its disposal to stop these terrorist attacks against our soldiers and allies in Iraq, including keeping open the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran," Lieberman said in a statement. He added, "Although no one desires a conflict with Iran, the fact is that the Iranian government by its actions has declared war on us." The senator's comments come as Democrats who control Congress prepare to push for U.S. troop withdrawals when lawmakers return after their Fourth of July break. Lieberman has been a leading defender of the Iraq war in the Senate. His pro-war views have won him friends in the Bush administration, but have rankled many anti-war Democrats.
"At the very least, I hope that these latest revelations about Iran's terrorism in Iraq will prompt some of my colleagues in Congress to reconsider their demand that U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq," Lieberman said. "For Congress to mandate a retreat from Iraq will give the Iranians exactly what they want most. A retreat would not only represent a catastrophic defeat for the United States, but an epic victory for Iran, Hezbollah and the forces of Islamist terrorism," he said.
Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, has said intelligence shows that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is responsible for training and equipping terrorists operating in Iraq and that the head of the Revolutionary Guard reports to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Lieberman lost the Democratic primary for Senate last year to anti-war challenger Ned Lamont. Lieberman was assailed for his pro-war views, but was re-elected to the Senate last fall as an independent.
© 2007 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
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