Last week, the campaign to connect Iran to violence in Iraq ran into a few snags. In the wake of recent fighting between Iraqi and U.S. security forces and Shiite militiamen, we found an enormous list of uncovered weapons and munitions — none of which came from Iran. U.S. officials announced a press conference to show Iranian-supplied explosives used in Karbala, and then cancelled the event when they realized none of the weapons came from Iran.
But don’t tell Joe Lieberman that. He doesn’t want to hear it.
On Monday, Pat Buchanan asked Lieberman whether he believed “the United States should conduct air strikes on the Iranian Quds force in Iran if they do not stop” interfering in Iraq. Lieberman replied that he “hoped” the U.S. would not have to strike at “the people who are responsible for killing Americans,” but said that the Iranians should “have in mind that it’s a distinct possibility.”
OK, that was relatively tempered rhetoric, at least by Lieberman’s standards. He’s accusing Iranians of acts of war, but he wasn’t actively talking about U.S. military strikes.
That is, until this morning.
On right-winger Bill Bennett’s radio show this morning, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) expressed his openness to bombing Iran, saying that there is “an appeal to it.” Discussing the West Virginia primary results, Bennett praised what he claimed was Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) transformation into his “style” of politician, which he said is someone who “throws down a shot of liquor and bombs Iran.”
Lieberman whole-heartedly endorsed the “appeal” of the hawkish caricature Bennett had created.
We’re going to take away this guy’s committee chairmanship soon, right?
ThinkProgress has the audio clip, but here’s the transcript:
BENNETT: Listen, I give her credit. She has found her … three things. She’s found her voice. He is very much in the background now, it’s not this, you know, ventriloquial thing, it’s definitely her voice.
LIEBERMAN: That’s true.
BENNETT: And Joe, you know, this is my style. This is a girl who puts on her pearls, goes down, throws down a shot of liquor and bombs Iran, you know. This is … lookout Mrs. Bennett, this is my kind of girl.
LIEBERMAN: Hehehe, it does have an appeal to it.
Yeah, Joe, hilarious.