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


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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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