The Politics of War: Neo Con Attacks on Biden "Reek of Desperation"

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but in the last week, three separate stories emerged suggesting that the Democrat's vice presidential candidate, Senator Joe Biden, was soft on Iran and not a solid supporter of Israel. My guess is this was no accident. I'll bet Republicans and neo-conservatives are following their standard strategy: Attack your opponent's strength.

Just as Republicans attacked John Kerry's service in Vietnam during the 2004 campaign -- his perceived strong suit -- the Republican National Committee is now peddling stories that Senator Biden's acknowledged expertise in international affairs (see "Senator Biden is the Right Man at the Right Time") is actually a weakness. But the substance of these attacks is so thin that the RNC effort reeks of desperation. One report has Senator Biden telling Israeli officials the United States can't do anything about an Iranian nuclear weapon and Israel better learn to live with it. Another, courtesy of neo-conservative pundit John Podhoretz, has Biden threatening Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin twenty odd years ago with a cut-off of U.S. assistance unless Israel stops building settlements.

Neither story is true. As far as Israel is concerned, having worked as his senior foreign policy adviser for five years, I know Senator Biden is one of Israel's staunchest supporters in the Senate. In fact, during the time I worked for him, Israel was one of the few subjects we rarely spoke about because his views were so clear and long-standing there wasn't much to say.

He did tell me how support for Israel and Jewish causes was one of the first positions he adopted in the Senate -- initially after talks with a close friend from Delaware and then as a result of his first trip abroad in 1973 when he met Prime Minister Golda Meir and her young military aide, Yitzhak Rabin. He also told me how much he learned from the late Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor and until recently Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who worked as an adviser to Senator Biden in the 1970s. Podhoretz's story about an exchange with Menachem Begin is more than anything else a reminder of how long-standing and close the Senator's relationship is with the state of Israel and how much he has fought for Israel over the years, leading the fight in Congress against the sale of F-15s and AWACs to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s and taking on semi-official anti-semitism in the Middle East and Europe.

Also last week, another neo-conservative pundit, Michael Rubin (no relation), wrote a diatribe in the Washington Post accusing Senator Biden of "blinking" on Iran. His charge is that Senator Biden favors engagement with the government of Iran. Engagement, he claims, is a sign of weakness and Senator Biden is "Iran's favorite Senator."

The favorite Senator argument is a small-minded smear that is all too typical of Republican politics. Remember how Senator McCain used to say that Barack Obama was the preferred candidate of Hamas? McCain stopped making that claim after it turned out that John McCain was the one who was open to direct talks with Hamas before he started running for president. (See Huffington Post's tape and story of McCain flip-flops on Hamas) Meanwhile, Senator Biden wrote the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act that prevents U.S. funds from going to Hamas until it renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel.

The larger point is about U.S. policy towards Iran. The neo-cons, who really ought to be called the naïve cons, still think the United States can somehow cause regime change in Iran. Therefore, anyone who wants to engage with them is soft. But it is the neo-cons and their supporters in the Bush administration that are soft in the head when it comes to Tehran. That regime isn't going anywhere, not for a very long time at least. From the standpoint of securing America's interest, Senator Biden 's approach is realistic and right on the mark. We should engage with the Iranian government, just the way we engaged with the government of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, just the way the Bush administration is now engaging with the government of North Korea (which by any standard is the worst on the planet), and just the way serious policy-makers have always worked to advance America's interests through diplomacy.

President Bush has achieved absolutely nothing with his on-again, off-again refusal to engage with Tehran. On the Bush administration's watch, Iran has gone from a long-term proliferation problem to an urgent nuclear danger. Because the administration has been unable to formulate a coherent Iran policy, Washington and its allies have never developed the kind of serious package of incentives and disincentives that actually could influence Tehran to scale back its nuclear program.

Senator Biden's alleged sin is that he wants to directly engage the Iranian government and present them with two alternatives. The first would be a future of isolation, economic sanctions, and international pariah status, and the second would be a credible, step by step path to improved relations with the United States and the West along with the elimination of the Iranian threat to develop and brandish nuclear weapons. That's no sin. That's the kind of approach we urgently need to adopt.

Not only has Joe Biden been a true friend of Israel throughout his decades in the Senate. But if things go well this November, his leadership could help Israel ensure a future without the threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of the regime in Tehran. That's what America, Israel and the civilized world should all be working toward.

James P. Rubin teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He was Assistant Secretary of State under President Clinton.

Comments

[ofbbg]

NeoCom attacks on Palin ""reek of panic and desperation". If these lame-assed attacks weren't so pitiful and inane, they'd be REALLY funny! Wait!!! They're BOTH!!

[max]

neocons should be con victs

[Justtellthetruth]

George Bush Senior threatened Israel with a complete cut of all funding if they did not stop the settlements movement. I wonder how the neocons would like to charactorize that little fact.

The settlements are, in fact , one of the primary ENGINES that drives terror agaisnt the US and Israel, and anyone who is a friend of Israel OR the US would make their total termination and removal a priority.

Tony Blair, Jimmy Carter, George Bush Senior, the Iraq study group, members of the 9/11 comission, the head of the CIAs bin laden unit and jsut about every other non partisan expert on the matter agree with this analysis, as do just about every single other nation in the world.

this subject needs to be priority one for any responsible president, and McCain/Palin will maintain the status quo, helping to inspire more terrorsim against Both israel and the US.

Keep in mind, MOST israelis would like to see the settlements gone as well, thats why they started the kadima party and got rid of the gaza settlements in the first place.

Don't let the same MORONS who dragged us into the Iraq war turn the settlements into a US political cause. They are morally and strategically indefensible. They are the only violently enforced colonial settler movement on the entire PLANET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are in direct oppostion to every value that the US holds dear.

[realpolitic]

Few could have hurt the U.S. position in the world as much as the neocons have. I agree that their world view is very naive. They believe that all citizens of the world want to be little Americans and they forget the role that nationalism, enthic identity, and religion has in far off countries. They think we can continue to bomb and bomb Arabs and then shout terrorism and be loved in the Arab world. Only someone as naive and as uninformed as Bush would have let them take over his cabinet and shape their policies on his administration. For the neocons, one solution fits all- regime change and military intervention. Their militarism is ruining our economy and our place in the world.

[AdultFilmLegend]

O needs to quickly dump Biden and get someone with some executive experience.

[exmate]

"The Neo-cons, who really ought to be called the naïve cons, still think the United States can somehow cause regime change in Iran"

Neo-cons are indeed naive. With the exception of Donald Rumsfeld, who served in the peacetime Navy, none of them have any military training or experience and yet they successfully maneuvered the USA into the Iraq war and now are trying to do the same with Iran and even Russia.

John McCain's top foreign policy advisor, Neoconservative Randall Scheunemann, is one of the reasons why electing McCain would mean a third term for GW Bush.

[jqcitizen]

exmate-

You mentioned the 21st century 'Secretary of War', Donald Rumsfeld,

Another of William Kristols military 'experts' is former Vice President and National Guard draft dodger, J. Danforth Quayle.

[Pulemerci]

I wouldn't say that Biden is weak on foreign affairs. I would say he's very weak. He makes Jimmy Carter look like a strong, effective and relevant leader. This is the guy that seriously propsed to send a "check for $200 million to those Arabs in Tehran" a month after 9/11. With no strings attached. I know they are Persians, but the point is that "Plugs" Biden would be a disaster advising the Community Organizer on foreign affairs.

[Mahi Joe]

One point the entire Repub. party was unified on was the way in which to engage any perceived enemy of the USA, and that was not to engage in any form of diplomacy but to threaten them with immediate military action. This barbaric mode of thinking doesn't work except to rally and unify more groups to go against us. Our military personal are over extended, our military equipment is badly in need of repair, we are in debt over our heads to foriegn nations we don't trust just so we can borrow money to keep this war going and our capability to defend ourselves on multiple fronts is questionable. . So to achieve what McCain and his warmongers wish to accomplish can only be done if he brings back the Draft. So why isn't anyone talking about the Draft? Simple. It would create an anti-war sentiment in this country that would far exceed anything we saw in the 60's and 70's. So let's look at McCain's unspoken agenda and ask him how he expects to back up all these threats he is making.

[EspressoAtNoon]

> "One report has Senator Biden telling Israeli officials the United States can't do anything about an Iranian nuclear weapon and Israel better learn to live with it. Another, courtesy of neo-conservative pundit John Podhoretz, has Biden threatening Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin twenty odd years ago with a cut-off of U.S. assistance unless Israel stops building settlements. "

- US Politicians SHOULD threaten to cut off U.S. assistance unless Israel stops building illegal settlements in the occupied territories. It's in violation of International law. If Biden did make this threat he should be applauded for supporting the rule of law and for demanding just and ethical behavior from our allies.

[AdobePhsyko]

I'll state this so, even the Repugs can understand it.

Democrats=GOOD
Republicans=BAD

[Rozier]

Of McCain's Vice Presidential choice, Arctic beauty queen huntress, hockey mom who soars the heavens, I wonder only this: How much greater for having her name on the ticket will the Republican victory be? A lot would be my guess.
Democrats had already made a McCain victory certain with the Obama nomination. Palin now gives the undecided and those Hillary supporters embittered by the primaries reason enough to go red. She'll also be the fall back candidate neocons critical of McCain will need in order to swallow their pride and do what Republicans seem to do best - take one for the gipper.

Doubt this? Then ask yourself: Are we an educated and otherwise thoughtful nation of politically engaged citizens with a history of electing leaders on the basis of their qualifications? Appearances aside, substance over style? Or in your view, does the voting public somehow fall short in their collective decision making process?

Americans will rise to the occasion as they did when they elected Bush and in the end answer the question no one wants to ask: Can a black man become the President of the United States?

"Search your feelings Luke", John McCain will be the 44th President of the United States.

[LizM]

I just have one question for you, Jamie Rubin...where the heck were you when Senator Biden really needed you in Iowa...hmmmm? Geesh.

Well, better late than never... I always say. Cheers.

[abarafi]

I have a different logic about this election. The Republicans (for whatever reason) support continuing the war in Iraq, the tax breaks for the rich, no universal healthcare, and overturning Roe v Wade if they get the chance to choose another Supreme Court judge. It's like the US has cancer, and the Republicans are saying "let's pray for a cure" but keep doing the same things as before. Obama and Biden offer a different remedy - a change remedy. Some may wonder about their ability to deliver, but they are for ending the war in Iraq, restoring the taxes on the richest of us, providing healthcare for everyone, and preserving a woman's right to choose. If I had cancer, and one doctor said "you're going to die, so I'll give you some pain killers, and get your affairs in order" and another doctor said "right now, you're dying, but there's this experimental drug that may do nothing for you, or it may cure you" you better believe I'm going to try that drug. Well, that's what we face in this election. The same old treatment and assured demise, or taking a chance on a different remedy that just might save our country.

[karenigma]

The Republicans want to win so that they can cover up their horrible record while in office.If the Dems get in they must expose their lies and mismanagement/non-management.

[MrSolo]

The Republican Party: Do They Think The Rest Of The World Is Just A Bunch Of Fools?

[lafrance]

Biden is so associated with Foreign Policy in the public's mind that it would be very hard to erode that.
Kerry was not known for his vietnam service anywhere near the way Biden is with Foreign Policy.