Posted on 12/18/2006 11:07:14 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
A Congressional delegation headed by US Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday that they were squarely against the Baker-Hamilton report calling for the US to engage in dialogue with Iran and Syria, according to officials present at the meeting.
According to the officials, McCain and Lieberman said that the report was just one more report circulating in Washington, and was not US policy.
The report also called for the convening of an international peace conference, along the lines of the Madrid conference, and Lieberman said that it was as if former secretary of state James Baker, one of the heads of the committee and an architect of the Madrid conference in 1991, re-cycled 15-year old ideas.
McCain, touted as one of the leading Republican presidential hopefuls in 2008, alluded to Sen. John Kerry's current trip to Damascus, when he told Olmert that he was opposed to fellow senators visiting Syria.
This is a mistake, McCain was quoted as saying, added that these visits not only made Syria look legitimate but gave the impression that the US was not united vis- -vis Syria.
McCain and Lieberman were part of a five-person congressional delegation that arrived in Israel on Sunday for two days of talks from visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. The other members of the delegation are senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), and John Thune (R-South Dakota), as well as Representative Mark Kirk (R-Illinois.)
In addition to meeting Olmert, the delegation also met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, as well as with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The senators, according to the officials at their meeting with Olmert, also came out against the Baker-Hamilton report for linking the current instability in the Middle East to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Collins was quoted as having told Olmert that it seemed ridiculous to say that Sunni-Shiite fighting has anything to do with Israel and the Palestinians.
Olmert told the delegation that Israel wanted to reach a peace agreement with Syria, but that the current regime in Damascus was not interested in talking peace, but was rather Iran's main ally and continued to support terrorism in the Palestinian Authority and extremists in Lebanon and Iraq. Olmert pointed out that Hamas head Khaled Mashaal is headquartered in Damascus because no other country was willing to give him shelter or patronage.
Credit where credit is due. Good for McCain and Lieberman.
I think they are the same person..... :)
Leiberman - not surprised. Which is good.
McCain - apparently, he found his balls somewhere in Feingold's desk drawer.
They will turn on him and destroy him as soon as he declares his candidacy (actually, more likely as soon as he gets the nomination, but I don't think the media can restrain themselves that long.)
And Lord knows they have plenty of ammo to work with.
This is why we Republicans up in Connecticut voted for Lieberman. He is UTTERLY RELIABLE on the war, which is the most important issue facing our country other than abortion.
This is doubly good.
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Excellent point.
"The report also called for the convening of an international peace conference, along the lines of the Madrid conference, and Lieberman said that it was as if former secretary of state James Baker, one of the heads of the committee and an architect of the Madrid conference in 1991, re-cycled 15-year old ideas. "
The cost/benefit ratio for such a conference would approach about...infinity.
It's good to see these two Senators leading on this issue.
Would like to hear Bush slam it; big-time, as well. But no reason to even imagine. . .
You are correct but I have to tell you it hurt so bad. My arm is still hurting from having to fight with all my strength to pull the lever for Lieberman.
i.e. just barely worth lining the bottom of your birdcage.
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