After General David Petraeus testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in April, conservative pundit Pat Buchanan warned that "the neocons may yet get their war on Iran."Buchanan particularly singled out Petraeus's agreement with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) when he suggested, "Is it fair to say that the Iranian-backed special groups in Iraq are responsible for the murder of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqi soldiers and civilians?"
When Lieberman appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Monday, Buchanan reminded him of that question and asked, "Do you believe that the United States should conduct air strikes on the al-Quds force in Iran if they do not stop this, and do you expect President Bush to do something like that?"
"I hope we don't have to get to the point of moving in any way into Iran to strike at the base of the people who are responsible for killing Americans," Lieberman replied. "But I hope that the Quds Force and the Iranian government has in mind that that is a distinct possibility.""The Iranians have been training and arming Iraqi extremists who have gone back into Iraq and are responsible for the killing of hundreds of American soldiers," Lieberman continued angrily. "This is an outrageous act. ... These people have American blood on their hands."
Despite Lieberman's assertions, it has never been firmly proven that Iran is arming Iraqi militias. The Los Angeles Times reported last week, "Iraqi officials also have accused Iran of meddling in violence and had echoed the U.S. accusations of new Iranian-made arms being found in Basra. But neither the United States nor Iraq has displayed any of the alleged arms to the public or press ... A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran."
In his column last week, Buchanan expressed concern that "the administration has also painted itself, and us, into a corner with the war talk" and that as a result, "we are likely headed either for negotiations with Iran or war."
Speaking to Lieberman on Monday, Buchanan cited Richard Nixon's bombing of Cambodia as a precedent and asked, "Why is President Bush hesitating to do what should be done, in your judgment, to protect American soldiers?"
"I'm sure ... he hopes the diplomatic efforts ..." Lieberman began uncertainly. He then continued, with more confidence, "The best way for a real military conflict to be avoided here is for the Iraqis to tell their neighbors, we want to live in peace with you but we're not going to stand by ... if you continue to ... kill thousands of Iraqis and Americans."
