McCain criticizes Obama on Iran
WASHINGTON (AP) - June 2, 2008 McCain has criticized Obama for saying in a debate last year
that he would meet leaders of Iran and other U.S. foes without
preconditions. The Arizona senator argues Obama is naive and
inexperienced to think that such a meeting would yield progress.
"It's hard to see what such a summit with President (Mahmoud)
Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an earful of anti-Semitic
rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust
and talks before frenzied crowds about starting another," McCain
told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
He criticized Obama for seeming to suggest that Iran is trying
to develop a nuclear program because the U.S. refuses to engage in
presidential-level talks. McCain said the Clinton administration in
particular tried to engage Iran for two years, even lifting some
sanctions, to no avail.
"Even so, we hear talk of a meeting with the Iranian leadership
offered up as if it were some sudden inspiration, a bold new idea
that somehow nobody has ever thought of before," McCain said as
dozens in the audience laughed.
His campaign said he was referring to Obama's comments in an
interview last month with Fox News: "Iran is stronger now than
when George Bush took office. And the fact that we have not talked
to them means that they have been developing nuclear weapons,
funding Hamas, funding Hezbollah. We have had no impact whatsoever
as we pursue our policies."
Obama's campaign said Monday that McCain supports an Iraq war
that has made the U.S. and Israel less secure.
"He promises to continue a war in Iraq that has emboldened Iran
and strengthened its hand," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said.
"He promises sanctions that the Bush administration has been
unable to persuade the (United Nations) Security Council to
deliver."
Two-thirds of people said they believe it would be a good idea
for the president to meet with the leaders of enemy countries,
according to a Gallup poll released Monday. About six in 10 favor
the president meeting specifically with the leader of Iran,
including most Democrats and independents and about half of
Republicans, according to the survey, which was taken May 19-22.
In his speech, McCain called for measures aimed at increasing
pressure on Iran, such as severely limiting Iranian imports of
gasoline, targeted sanctions such as denying visas and freezing
assets and a worldwide campaign to divest from companies doing
business with Iran.
McCain called for financial sanctions on the Central Bank of
Iran, which he said aids in terrorism and weapons proliferation,
and he criticized Obama for opposing a measure to designate Iran's
Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization responsible for
killing U.S. troops in Iraq.
McCain has warm relations with the group, which is influential
in the Jewish community. His call for sanctions against gasoline
imports is a priority that AIPAC's members plan to lobby for on
Capitol Hill later in the week.
In contrast, Obama has worked to reassure Jewish voters who have
expressed some unease about his candidacy.
"I welcome the Muslim world's accurate perception that I am
interested in opening up dialogue and interested in moving away
from the unilateral policies of George Bush, but nobody should
mistake that for a softer stance when it comes to terrorism or when
it comes to protecting Israel's security or making sure that the
alliance is strong and firm," Obama said in an interview last
month with The Atlantic magazine. "You will not see, under my
presidency, any slackening in commitment to Israel's security."