Lieberman: Iran has declared war on the US Josh Catone

Published: Monday July 2, 2007 Print This Email This Following a statement issued by the American Forces Press Service accusing Iran's Quds Force of "training, funding and arming the Iraqi groups," as well as Hezbollah operatives in Iraq, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) released a statement saying that Iran has declared war on America. "Although no one desires a conflict with Iran, the fact is that the Iranian government by its actions has declared war on us," Lieberman wrote, while urging the United States to keep "open the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran." "These revelations should be a wake-up call to the United States about the threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran," Lieberman continued, "as well as a reminder why Iraq is, in fact, the central front of the global war on terror." The AFPS article that prompted Lieberman's statement quoted heavily from Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, who alleges that the Quds Force sends weapons and $750,000 to $3 million per month into Iraq. According to Bergner, terrorist organizations in Iraq would be "hard pressed" to continue without funding from Iran. Lieberman seized on the opportunity to criticize fellow members of Congress who have pushed for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and repeated the oft-heard White House line that a retreat from Iraq is a victory for terrorists. "For Congress to mandate a retreat from Iraq will give the Iranians exactly what they want most," Lieberman concluded. "A retreat would not only represent a catastrophic defeat for the United States, but an epic victory for Iran, Hezbollah, and the forces of Islamist terrorism." Some neoconservatives believe that Lieberman's hard line stance on Iran will ultimately make US military action against that country easier for the White House to sell. Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, recently told Fox News that Lieberman's campaign against Iran has made "it at least easier for the administration to consider" military action. Read the American Forces Press Service article here.

Read Lieberman's full statement here.



