I guess Lindsey Graham has been elected the new point man in the Senate to blame Obama if Iran ever gets nukes. No other reason I can think of exists for his latest saber rattling exercise in which he practically demands that Obama go to war against Iran:
“The last thing America wants is another military conflict, but the last thing the world needs is a nuclear-armed Iran… Containment is off the table.”
The South Carolina Republican saw the United States going to war with the Islamic republic “not to just neutralize their nuclear program, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard, in other words neuter that regime.”
He spoke just days before expected nuclear talks will see US and Iranian officials sitting at the same table for discussions on Tehran’s nuclear drive. The two countries have lacked diplomatic ties since the Iran hostage crisis of 1979.
Is Iran suddenly closer to a nuke than the weeks before the election? Did the Republicans run on a platform of starting a third war in the Middle East? I don’t recall Republicans emphasizing the need to blast Iran to smithereens in their campaign ads this Fall. Do you? Yet suddenly out of nowwhere “containment is off the table.” What does that leave on the table Senator “I served as a JAG Lawyer during Gulf War I behind a desk in South Carolina” Graham? If containment and sanctions are off the table that leaves only complete capitulation by Iran’s leaders (highly unlikely, as in not going to happen) or war, with strikes either by Israel with US support, or by the US directly.
Well we all know that if the consequences of any war with Iran would devastate the world’s economy, cause gas proves to rise to heights not yet seen (can you say $200 a barrel) on speculation alone, and kill thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent people, most of them Muslims. It would also reinforce the idea that the US is engaged in a religious war against Muslims, and threaten our national security and the security of our allies in Europe and the Middle East with terrorist strikes.
Graham knows this quite well. He knows we aren’t going to war over Iran’s potential for nukes, at least not unless Sarah Palin becomes President.
No, this is likely part of the GOP’s campaign to diminish further their base’s respect for President Obama and reinforce the meme that Obama is weak on national defense, that at heart he is a Muslim sympathizer, and, among the most extreme crazies on the right, that he is a secret Muslim hell bent on destroying America’s Christians and imposing Sharia law.
In short, it’s a not so subtle dog whistle Senator Graham is blowing as loudly as he can. Expect more dog whistle attacks by the GOP in the weeks and months to come.
