The Hill's Blog Briefing Room » Obama: Iran Is a Grave Threat Because of Bush Policy


		KEY BLOGS What they are saying today Daily Kos While Barack Obama seems presidential during his trip abroad, John McCain looks petulant for knocking Obama's visits to Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries after the Republican had done the same and had initially complained that Obama hadn't, writes DemFromCT. Evangelical ... READ MORE MyDD Democrat Ronnie Musgrove is running neck and neck with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in recent polls and Democrats could win the race on the way to 60 Senate seats, writes Jonathan Singer. What Rush Limbaugh, who attacked Barack Obama's speech ... READ MORE TalkingPointsMemo When pundits talk about the need for Barack Obama to prove he can become commander-in-chief, they forget that the Constitution's framers sought to give the position to a president who was a civilian elected by the people and not a ... READ MORE The Next Right Liberals took the lead online when Democrats were out of power and they needed to try something new, according Jon Henke in a response to a question about why conservatives are behind when it comes to using the Internet. The ... READ MORE Townhall.com Many Americans, especially those in swing states in the industrial Midwest, could find Barack Obama's speech lacking in American pride and bordering on arrogance, writes Hugh Hewitt. John McCain will benefit from the view of Americans who see Obama as ... READ MORE The Corner Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) deserves credit for getting an amendment adopted to a House intelligence bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to continue using terms like jihadism, Islamofascism and mujahideen and therefore ending the departments campaign to ... READ MORE Drudge Report Barack Obama is now leaving for Paris, the next leg of his trip abroad, notes the front page of the Drudge Report. But Drudge highlights some of the negative reaction to Obama's speech in Berlin, linking to a story in ... READ MORE The Huffington Post Sen. Chuck Hagel's (R-Neb.) call on both presidential candidates to quit talking about the surge and focus instead on the future leads the Post. Now that the corporate press has lauded Barack Obama's address in Berlin, it's poised to lash ... READ MORE The Plank The decision by Barack Obama's campaign to start a transition team to ready the Democrat to take office can hurt and help Obama, writes Nicole Allen. Republicans see it as another example of Obama's presumptuousness, but it will also prepares ... READ MORE Hot Air Ahead of Barack Obama's trip to Paris, France the Republican National Committee is running ads in the cities of Paris in Michigan, Maine and Missouri that slam the Democrat for opposing war funding bills because they didn't include withdrawal timetables, ... READ MORE CLICK FOR MORE SUMMARIES

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May 19, 2008

Obama: Iran Is a Grave Threat Because of Bush Policy

@ 6:08 pm by Chris Good

Barack Obama today responded to criticism from John McCain over his weekend statement that Iran "wouldn’t stand a chance" at threatening the U.S.

"Iran is a grave threat," Obama said in Billings, Montana. "It has an illicit nuclear program, it supports terrorism across the region and militias in Iraq, it threatens Israel’s existence, it denies the holocaust. But this threat has grown, primarily — and this is the irony — the reason Iran is so much more powerful now than it was a few years ago is because of the Bush-McCain policy of fighting an endless war in Iraq and refusing to pursue direct diplomacy with Iran."

On Sunday, Obama said that Iran is "tiny compared to the Soviet Union," and that it does not pose near as much of a threat to the U.S., sparking a debate in the blogosphere and with McCain.

"And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying we're going to wipe you off the planet," Obama said. "And ultimately that direct engagement led to a series of measures that helped prevent nuclear war, and over time allowed the kind of opening that brought down the Berlin Wall. Now, that has to be the kind of approach that we take."

Today, McCain told the National Restaurant Association in Chicago that, "obviously, Iran isn't a superpower and doesn't possess the military power the Soviet Union had. But that does not mean that the threat posed by Iran is insignificant. On the contrary, right now Iran provides some of the deadliest explosive devices used in Iraq to kill our soldiers."

"Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment," McCain said today. "Those are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess."

Archived under: Campaigns, Foreign Policy, News, Presidential Campaigns
Tags: Barack Obama, Iran, John McCain, Soviet Union

1 Comment »

The Hill welcomes comment from anyone and will almost always post it whether it is favorable or critical, as long as it is substantive and advances debate.

Iranian people, very much like our own American people, will support their government when their nation is verbally and physically attacked. Our American people reacted with strong nationalism in support of President George Bush following September 11 attack.

Our present policy using the financial leverage and threat of physical attack has backfired over the last 20 years. This policy has promoted an opposite effect to the response we had anticipated; it has mobilized Iranian people in support of their government. We have been confused between our own national interests and those of Israeli Lobby.

Senator Obama has recognized that the present hostility of our government toward Iranian people will not create a positive response. Iranian people all along have expressed their friendship toward the American people; while strongly have rejected the bullying policy toward their country.

Dialogue and frank diplomacy will create a positive response from Iranian people, Iranian government has indicated.

Comment by Saint Michael Traveler — May 23, 2008 @ 5:41 pm

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May 19, 2008

Obama: Iran Is a Grave Threat Because of Bush Policy

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