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Home Front
Dean under fire over no side-taking comment
2003-09-09
Howard Dean came under fire yesterday from two rivals for the Democratic nomination for saying the United States should not "take sides" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Five days after Dean told stupes supporters in New Mexico that "it’s not our place to take sides" in the conflict, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) accused him of advocating a "major break" from the United States’ long-standing policy of explicitly siding with Israel in the Middle East.
He’d declare an embargo against Israel while Hamas and IJ got more funds from sources he’d be too big a coward to root out.
"If this is a well-thought-out position, it’s a mistake, and a major break from a half a century of American foreign policy," Lieberman said in a statement. "If it’s not, it’s very important for Howard Dean, as a candidate for president, to think before he talks."
For Dennis the Menace, that’s a novel idea!
Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) said: "It is either because he lacks the foreign policy experience or simply because he is wrong that governor Dean has proposed a radical shift in United States policy towards the Middle East. If the president were to make a remark such as this it would throw an already volatile region into even more turmoil."
Hmm
 maybe there ARE a few intelligent Dems allowed on the national level.
In an interview, Dean sought to save his own ass clarify his statement but did not back down from his belief that the United State cannot negotiate peace unless it is seen as a neutral party in the region. "Israel has always been a longtime ally with a special relationship with the United States, but if we are going to bargain by being in the middle of the negotiations then we are going to have to take an evenhanded role," he said.

For more than 50 years, the United States has backed Israel as its closest ally in the region, providing the Jewish state with billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid. Dean does not advocate breaking the U.S.-Israeli alliance, but believes the only way to bring peace to the Middle East is for the president to broker a deal without playing favorites. A top Dean adviser said the former Vermont governor is doing nothing different from what President Bill Clinton did when he reached out to Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians as a path to peace. Several Democrats predicted Dean would pay a political price for his remarks. Democratic candidates receive a significant amount of money and support from the Jewish community. It would be hard for any Democrat considered unsympathetic toward Israel by Jewish leaders to win the nomination, several party strategists said. Dean believes his rivals are trying to slow his surge by manufacturing a "divisive issue." He specifically struck back at Lieberman, who is emerging as Dean’s harshest critic on the campaign trail. "For Joe to raise this as a divisive issue in the Democratic Party is a major error on his part," he said. "I am deeply disappointed in him." The Dean-Lieberman spat comes only days after the Connecticut senator warned of an impending "Dean depression" if the country were to follow Dean’s trade policies.
Posted by:Katz

#7  Howard appeals to black voters. The three that live in Vermont voted for him.
Posted by: tu3031   2003-9-9 8:56:33 PM  

#6  I hope he does exactly that. Why? Because there's nothing funnier than a Democrat caught in the cross-fire.
Posted by: Charles   2003-9-9 8:15:56 PM  

#5  Dean must have been trying to appeal to black voters. I think the Dem candidates aer supposed to appeal to black voters tomorrow. Today was the strong on defense day again. He must have screwed up his calender again. Hope he doesn't start talking pro-envirmontal on a pro-labor day. It could get ugly.
Posted by: Super Hose   2003-9-9 4:32:34 PM  

#4  Shit! It seems like I'm posting what I want to say below every article save the right one!

I goofed twice by posting below the wrong article. What I was trying to say was that I goofed by getting Dean and Kucinich's names mixed up while doing that span class="hilite".
Posted by: Katz   2003-9-9 4:24:42 PM  

#3  Dean's yellow streak will become more and more evident as he talks about foreign policy issues. He is basically a classic, post-60s, timid Democrat defeatist who believes that the US is a force for evil in the world.

It's no accident who his loudest and most enthusiastic supporters are: the hard left.
Posted by: R. McLeod   2003-9-9 3:46:04 PM  

#2  I love it when they feed on each other! Kerry's comments are very informative. Seems Deano did not get the DNC talking points and decided to adlib. LMAO!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter)   2003-9-9 3:26:58 PM  

#1  Geez, Mr Dean, sir. How does that feel? Y'know, stomping on your dick in golf spikes. Gotta hurt!
Posted by: .com (a.k.a. Abu This!)   2003-9-9 3:23:15 PM  

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