[Peace-discuss] Gravel on Iran resolution: PBS

[Barbara kessel]

October 02, 2007


     Sen. Gravel Say AIPAC Is Pushing Confrontation With Iran

I keep declaring that the Walt and Mearsheimer is historic, that it has
blasted down a wall in the American discourse. I keep getting more
evidence.

The following exchange took place on the Jim Lehrer News Hour last night
<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec07/gravel_10-01.html >,
between presidential candidate (and former Alaska Sen.) Mike Gravel and
PBS's Ray Suarez. What is most significant about this is that the
question of Israel's interest versus America's interest in confronting
Iran is out on the table, on public television:

RAY SUAREZ: You're 77. Why put yourself through this?

MIKE GRAVEL: I love my country, and I love the human
race. And I want to see a change made in the
leadership of our country so we can do more to protect
the human race....With respect to my country going to war
when there's no reason to go to war, killing human
beings, I'm ashamed of this.

I'm ashamed of the leadership we have, whether it's
Democratic leadership or Republican leadership. That's
the reason why I'm in.

Look what we're trying to do with Iran right now. Last
week, the Lieberman resolution -- he's the guy that
wrote the resolution with Iraq and killed over 3,000
Americans and a million Iraqis. And now he comes
forward with another resolution, and the leadership of
the Democratic Party in the Senate doesn't even have
the brains or the judgment to recognize what he's
doing. Sanctions on the Republican Guard? They already have
sanctions. The U.N. passed them in March, Resolution
1747. What is the game they're playing right now to
have sanctions? I mean, this was AIPAC that put
Lieberman up to do this. This is disaster...

If we touch Iran and they respond, you're talking
about, in the minimum, a world depression, because the
oil industry will just get shut down at the Straits of
Hormuz. That's the minimum.

RAY SUAREZ: You're saying that the national
legislature of this country, rather than doing the
will of the citizens of the United States, passed that
Iran resolution, sanctioning the Republican Guard,
because of the American- Israeli Political Action
Committee?

MIKE GRAVEL: Wait a second. They'll be some
information coming out about how this thing was
drafted. So the answer is yes, the short answer.

The worst that will happen will be a nuclear exchange,
and I don't think we'll ever be able to contain once
they start shooting bombs at each other nuclear
devices. This is what's at stake with this resolution.
And it's the height of immorality, irresponsibility,
and the United States Senate, with the Democrats in
charge, voted for the passage of this resolution. It
doesn't get any worse than that, Ray.

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