Lieberman Rips Obama: His Lack Of Conviction Puts Nation In Peril

Despite rumblings that his advocacy for John McCain could lead to his ouster from the Democratic Party, Joseph Lieberman continued on Tuesday to take broad swipes at Barack Obama.

In a speech before the Center for U.S. Global Engagement, Lieberman described the presumptive Democratic nominee as a politician who was consistently wrong on foreign affairs and whose policy proposals -- had they been put in place - would have put America at great risk.

"I've been following Sen. Obama's comments in this campaign and particularly in the last months since the primaries were over," said Lieberman. "And I wish he would just say that the surge has worked. He doesn't have to give credit to John McCain or anyone else. He can give credit to General Petraeus and the troops who have carried it out. I wish he would acknowledge the surge is working, rather than changing his position on how and when we should exit Iraq, without acknowledging that these are changes of positions that are understandably based on conditions on the ground. A president's credibility is based on the courage of his or her convictions, his or her acceptance of reality, and consistency of views are critical elements of national leadership. A president who squanders those does so at our nation's peril."

Lieberman's remarks came just hours after Obama had delivered a foreign policy address of his own, in which the Illinois Democrat reiterated his desire to see a responsible phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq and a greater emphasis on the conflict in Afghanistan.

Working off of Obama's address, Lieberman accused him not only of being unwilling to acknowledge the success of the troop surge, but also for being inconsistent in his foreign policy approach. The 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee then offered nearly half a dozen direct questions to the Illinois Democrat that mimicked, in large part, talking points that the McCain campaign has been using with great frequency.

"Sen. Obama said this morning that he wants a foreign policy that is tough, smart and principled," said Lieberman. "This afternoon I want to ask my colleague who I respect and like a couple of direct questions: Was it tough when Sen. Obama voted to order U.S. troops to retreat from Iraq on a fixed timeline regardless of the recommendations of our military commanders or conditions on the ground? Was it smart when Sen. Obama opposed the surge and predicted that it would fail to improve our security? ... Was it tough and principled when Sen. Obama said he would be open to changing his plan on Iraq after going there and talking to General Petraeus, which I think was the right position, only to change that position hours later after being heatedly criticized by organizations like MoveOn.org? I say respectfully the answer to all those questions is, no."

Comments

[Leslie123]

Joe Lieberman is jealous of Barack Obama. pure and simple.

[riverhouse]

He was right about the folly of invading Iraq. Therein lies the judgment that would have avoided all this "peril" that threatens us militarily and economically in the world today. Had that massive foreign policy blunder not been taken, as it would not have been taken by our nominee, then none of the subsequent "perils" would be enveloping us now.

[Witchitalineman]

Another dud!

[garrylee]

Joe Liberman on Morning Joe-MSNBC called Mika "..Sweethe­art". I want to hear from the outrage women, who castigated Barack do the same for Liberman. Come on girls-you do believe in equal treatment.

[uvymopkq]

"could lead to his ouster from the Democratic Party..." Sam, hes not in the Democratic Party anymore...­.remember!

[JohnFromCensornati]

Maybe you should tell Harry Reeid.

[RobBob]

Obviously, he meant the "Democratic Caucus".

I think it's pretty likely that he'll be booted in January. The Repubs will take him, but they'll not like his views on anything not foreign-policy related. The guy is really a man without two parties, but his support for the Repub in this election combined with his stinging criticism of the Dem means that when Obama wins in November, he's out. Good riddance.

[GenXLiberal]

Joe,
Your lack of loyalty to your constituency and to your country is more concerning. You make Bendict Arnold look like a saint.

[hannabanana]

Ah, but you see, he IS loyal to his constituency - the Republicans and idiot Dems who reelected him, and sad to say, will again.

[Piatt]

Sanctimonious Joe could write the book on lack of conviction.

[therealredstateblues]

No Joe, its your lack of conviction and support for this unecessary and immoral war to please Aipac that puts the nation in peril

[truthyguy]

What is wrong with the democratic party? We have people like Lieberman (by reason of his swing vote), Pelosi and Reid leading it.

[JohnFromCensornati]

The Dems are a group of people who CHOSE those "leaders".

[RationalDem]

What puts our nation "at peril" is Vinegar Joe heading up the Homeland Security Committee, and doing absolutely no oversight.

[TPW]

I recall Joe saying any criticism of Bush, "puts our nation at peril." Now it's support of Obama that puts our nation at peril. It's a nice apocalyptic tagline that can be used for any occasion but loses it's effectiveness through too much use. What a weasel!

[billw8017]

After a couple hundred marines were killed in Lebanon, President Reagan about to go on vacation told the press how craven the Democrats were to want to withdraw. By the time Air Force One was over Kansas, the White House announced that US forces were being withdrawn from Lebanon. Similarly, Nixon kept the Viet Nahm war going until 1972 when he made a peace agreement that undercut the anti war Democrats.

The surge is not necessarily the sole reason for improved security in Iraq. The US can avoid confrontations and negotiate with local leaders and fatalities will fall off considerably compared to when the US forces engage in active confrontations. The surge did involve increased fatalities at the first. The US has negotiated with Sunnai leaders in Anwar and enjoys a truce with the Mahde army.

All of this is trivial since whatever they say now, the US can turn on a dime and pull out.

[mari2JJ]

Unfortunately for McCain, the problem for him is multi-faceted. He must try to live down the failed presidency of Bush while not alienating the Bush cabal in the Republican Party. That will require super human contortions form mcCain. Frankly, he is no good at that sort of stuff. McCain scares moderates because of his suck-up to Bush. I wrote in McCain's name in the last two elections but alas, he has sold his soul to the neocons after a long and noble fight against them. I have decked that McCain has no moral rudder and cannot be trusted to do the right thing.

[dadw5boys]

I WRTOE MC CAIN'S NAME IN A LITTLE BLUE OUTHOUSE!!!!!!!!

[PALinda]

I dislike being petty, but the man always sounds like *any minute now* he's going to be break down and cry!

What a mess. And this is "leadership"? Urgggggh. Bottom of the barrel.

[jp5472]

I've stood next to Lieberman, shook his hand, and let me tell you - he's as tough as a wet tissue. All 5'4" of pure wimp. Where he gets off questioning anyone's toughness (or conviction) is beyond any rational thinker.

The reason I had the "privilege" was because he was touring a company that makes the soldiers' body armor while on his Pres. campaign bid in 2004. I was an engineering consultant there at the time. He is so unimpressi­ve...one really wonders how he ever was elected the first time let alone that he has stayed elected by switching to being "I" and was thoroughly backed by the Republican Party who he is now a complete shill for.

Why this little man was even allowed to keep his seat by the people of CT is beyond me. I firmly believed in 2000 that he was a liability for Gore, not an asset to the ticket, and for a large part was one of the key factors leading to Gore not winning by enough elsewhere so FL would never have mattered. So now he has become McCain's little stooge and is clearly a Bush/McCain team member who will say and do anything that his handlers hand him, no matter how clear the failures of the last 7+ years (and even longer) have led us to the brink and are clearly flawed.

[Jaybot]

It's funny (not ha ha funny, of course) but if Lieberman was something more than just a political pimple, his insane convictions would be putting the nation in peril. Ain't that sorta ironic?

[shootbird2]

The purpose of the surge was to create an atmosphere for the Iraqi politicians to come to settlement on how to move their country forward. Yes the surge has provided that buff, what are Iraqi folks doing? maybe Joe knows something we don't know. The fact of the matter is that only the Iraqi folks can solve there problems even if we are there for a thousand years, Joe please take note.

[snesich]

Actually, the real reason for the "surge" was to provide a way for the Bush administration to wall off most of Iraq, pay off the insurgents with guns and money and surrender large parts of the country. In return, the puppet "government" will allow the US to keep permanent military bases in Iraq to protect private investments that are making millions for a very small percentage of Americans.

This bit about "creating an atmosphere" for Iraqis to come together is deceitful propaganda. Don't fall for it. The real goal of the "surge" is to create a very long term footprint for the American military in that country.