Lieberman already picking the next target

August 20, 2007

Sen. Joe Lieberman, not content with two wars, is already picking his preferred target for a third. From his latest op-ed in (where else?) the Wall Street Journal:

The United States is at last making significant progress against al Qaeda in Iraq — but the road to victory now requires cutting off al Qaeda’s road to Iraq through Damascus. […]

When Congress reconvenes next month, we should set aside whatever differences divide us on Iraq and send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime, as we did last month to the Iranian regime, that the transit of al Qaeda suicide bombers through Syria on their way to Iraq is completely unacceptable, and it must stop.

We in the U.S. government should also begin developing a range of options to consider taking against Damascus International, unless the Syrian government takes appropriate action, and soon.

I found one far-right war supporter online noted this morning, “I once thought Iran would be the next target to look at, but Sen Joseph Lieberman makes a good case that Syria should be our next focus.” (The observation was apparently predicated on the notion that Iraq is going well, and we’ll have to attack someone next.)

What’s more, TP notes that Lieberman has been yearning for an attack on Syria for quite a while, and demanded that the administration pursue “very aggressive diplomacy” to handle Syria — just a month after the invasion of Iraq began in 2003. (Lieberman believed the Iraqi invasion would make the U.S. stronger in the region and Syria weaker, though the opposite happened.)

Nevertheless, as with Iraq, the substance of Lieberman’s argument seems pretty weak.

Most notably, there are not nearly as many Syrian suicide bombers as Lieberman would have us believe.

Hafez, whose new book is “Suicide Bombers in Iraq,” has identified the nationalities of 124 bombers who attacked in Iraq. Of those, the largest number — 53 — were Saudis. Eight apiece came from Italy and Syria, seven from Kuwait, four from Jordan and two each from Belgium, France and Spain. Others came from North and East Africa, South Asia and various Middle Eastern and European countries. Only 18 — 15 percent — were Iraqis.

One hopes Lieberman will pause before calling on strikes against Italy.

Once we bomb the few dead-enders in Syria, we will be greeted as liberators and the oil revenues will make a Syrian invasion pay for itself. Good idea Joe.

  • Of those, the largest number — 53 — were Saudis.

    Again Saudi Arabia comes out on top….

    Not advocating we attack Saudi Arabia, but we should at least take a look at that dysfunctional relationship.

  • First we’re going to Syria. And we’re gonna win Syria. Then we are into Saudia Arabia. Then to Italy, them Kuwait, then Jordan, then Belgium, France and Spain.
    Yeaaarrgh!!!

    Oh, that nut was Howard Dean.

    Lieberman’s not a nut according to the very serious MSM pundits.

    My bad.

  • I think Lieberman is desperately trying to be relevant, to grab a piece of the spotlight, to further ingratiate himself with the hawks and make sure his name is at the top of a GOP president’s (yeah, as if that’s got a snowball’s chance in hell) list for a Cabinet appointment, and the only way he can do that is to write op-eds that suggest we really should be looking for our next target, now that things are going so swimmingly in Iraq and Aghanistan.

    Once again, a big shout-out to the voters of Connecticut and the Democratic leadership for not supporting the Democratic nominee for that seat, and sticking your state and the country with this poor excuse for a Senator. I don’t think Ned Lamont would have necessarily set the Senate on fire, but he would have been a real Democrat who stood for Democratic principles, and I’m pretty sure he would not be advocating yet another military engagement, and talking out of his ass like Lieberman.

  • What about the weapons Saddam moved to Syria before we invaded? We better enlist our buddies like Sean Hannity to help us find them, since they are so certain of where they are located.

  • This is all part of the new Global War On Everything™ which will encompass, well, everything, and not just psychological states or nefarious tactics. It will also help with dirty hippie war protestors who say that Iraq and Afghanistan are illegal, undeclared wars.

    Does anyone else think that G.I. Joe Lieberman will make the perfect running mate for Rudolf Giuliani? And to think that some of you voted for this man to be Vice President. I imagine those votes are pretty much locked up for Hillary Clinton today.

  • If Lieberman thinks the “road to victory” goes through Syria, someone needs to get him a GPS.

    And a big mug of STFU (with a secret decoder ring, so he knows what that means).

  • This is your basic dog bites man story. Nothing surprising, but I guess it’s good to know that a rabid dog remains loose in the neighborhood.

  • It is apparent why LIEberman thinks Syria is more important than Iran in the GWOT. Syria is closer to Israel.

  • JKap, the supporters of this new war of which you speak could then proudly display their support on campaign buttons that say “G-WOE is Me!”

    And those of us who “voted” for JoeLie for Veep did so only because the ballot did not provide a way to vote for Al Gore and “almost anyone else.” Al was mad at Bill, and picking Joe was a way to lash out. I thought it was pathetic at the time; little did I know how much worse it would look in retrospect. Al’s gotta be kicking himself for making this hack nationally prominent.

    Anne, perhaps when you said to get Joe a GPS, you meant a Government Pension System, as in to retire his weasel-y ass back to Connecticut?

    Finally, and slightly more substantively, I assume that Joe has not really foregone his dream to bomb Iran, so he is actually advocating for wars 3 and 4. This man has some serious issues.

  • The only thing LIEberman gives a damn about is Israel. His hell bent support in regards to Iraq, and his over the top positions on Iran and now Syria have nothing to do with terror or national security. It is all about weakening Israel’s enemies in the region.

    Joe is a traitor, and I wish he would go to Israel and represent his true constituency.

  • Every month or so here comes Joe in need of attention with some condemnation of somebody some where out to get us and who should be attacked. Joe’s diplomatic skills are non existent. He always has the same approach. The man is irrelevant and embarrassing. He just won’t shut up and always manages to find a venue…MTP or WSJ. Never hear him saying we should attack Saudi Arabia. Jerusalem Joe has got to go. He’s out. We just have to endure him till the end of his term, but god, he’s just ridiculous. His tremendous ego begs attention he feels he deserves so every month or so we get a dose of Jerusalem Joe’s stupidity.. Can’t stand the elitist ass and just amazes me anyone gives him credibility…then again it’s WSJ or MTP blowing down his neck.

  • In the wake of the controversial O’Hanlon/Pollack op-ed endorsing the progress of the surge in Iraq, the liberal blogosphere has been awash in commentary about the mainstream media’s narrow reliance on the pro-surge viewpoints of “very serious people” constituting the “foreign policy clerisy.” As it turns out, not so much. A new joint report from Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress suggests America’s leading foreign policy experts see President Bush’s Iraq surge as a failure.

    For the details, see:
    “Report: Foreign Policy ‘Experts’ Reject the Iraq Surge.”

  • send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime, as we did last month to the Iranian regime

    Uh yeah, what was that message? I’ve heard everything from chest beating to requests to help with the security situation in Iraq. I also notice no one really says anything when Maliki meets with the Iranians. Shouldn’t he be taken to Gitmo for meeting with the terrists?

    So far as Syria (and Jordan) are concerned, the pResident needs to send them a big box of chocolates and some flowers for putting up with all the refugees he’s pushed into their countries. Leave it to Joe to talk about making their lives harder. Dick.

    Anyhoo, this isn’t about Israel, do you think Israel would say thanks if we started a war in their back yards? This is about Joe being a certifiable loony.

  • Joe cares deeply about his country. He just doesn’t live there, and the people of Connecticut can’t figure that out, apparently.

    I have a question for the media morons who book the speakers… Has Joe been right about anything yet?

    And yet there he is, on my TeeVee.

    Jesus Christ we need a real media outlet. Comedy Central should not be the most trustworthy news outlet.

  • Couldn’t we go after Italy, instead? We have a lot of people who speak the language, and their governments fall in strong breezes anyway. Plus, it guarantees our control of the world Ferrari supply.

    Can’t we just get a prioritized list of targets that the hawks in Israel would like us to hit, and save us the trouble of having Joe feed them to us one-by-one? It would just be more efficient.

  • Joseph Lieberman (R-Israel) has his own bizarro-intifada going. I think he’s determined to bomb Arabs until he can get another erection like the ones he got in 1990 and 2002.

  • JKap said:

    And to think that some of you voted for this man to be Vice President.

    So, who did you vote for in 2000, Winona LaDuke?

    Personally, I voted for Al Gore like many of the posters here did, I reckon. No one outside of CT knew much about Joe back then. He was still a Democrat in good standing other than his sanctimonious slam at Clinton. Not unlike the sanctimonious slams at Hillary Clinton by many here.

  • JKap “And to think that some of you voted for this man to be Vice President.”

    JKap, 7/24/2007 @ 9:49 am “But what do I know? I voted for Ralph Nader. Blame me.”

    Yes, in part I do blame people who voted for Nader. It is not reasonable to believe that Gore would have given Lieberman a free hand in starting wars in the MidEast. It is not reasonable to believe that Gore would have invaded Bagdad and done all the other damage to the US that Bush has done. It is not reasonable to believe that, if Gore had invaded something, he would have done so as incompetently as Bush.

    On the other hand, it was clear to anyone who was paying attention that Bush was a screw-up. Molly Ivins tried to tell us. It was obvious to anyone who read about his record.

    I don’t know why you personally voted the way you did, but for America to vote against a guy with obvious competence, accomplishments, and foresight (overhauling the federal bureaucracy, great environmentalism creds, early support for the internet) because one can’t see through media distortions and because he was a bit wooden on the campaign trail.

    It was also obvious that the election was going to be close, and for those that lived in states in contention, votes for Nader were tantamound to giving Bush an assist.

  • Aargh. Please read that as “it was shortsighted for America to vote against”, and “tantamount”. I’ll go take a moment and calm down.

  • Funny thing about this is that Syria is being really quiet considering what is happening next door. Lieberman, Bush Inc.,and all the rest their brown nosing morons are too ignorant and too dishonest to acknowledge that Assad Jr. is a lot less idealogical and a lot more practical than his dad was. Assad Sr. is most assuredly spinning a shitstorm in his tomb right now.

  • I voted for Lamont in the primary. I voted for Lamont in the general election. I can only hope that the despicable Mr. Lieberman is in his last ever term as a CT senator. I suspect that a lot of the Democrats who voted for him are probably regretting that vote these days. Republicans in CT voted for him because he is a Republican. If it quacks like a duck, it IS a duck. For JL, the label “Ind.” is a cruel joke.

  • When this idiot Senator explains to me why a regime that has been threatened by the United States would ever reduce the free military pressure that suicide bombers are placing on the U.S. Military, I’ll take him seriously.

    As for Saudi Arabia, they let these morons go kill themselves in Iraq so they won’t kill people in Riyhad (or worse, Mecca).

    Get a clue Joe!

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