Adam Ford
F L I N T O I D
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aCezvcz2Or_o
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Republican John McCain used a speech before a pro-Israel lobbying group to call for a worldwide isolation campaign against Iran and to criticize Barack Obama for stating his willingness to meet with Iranian leaders.
McCain, his party's presumptive presidential nominee, told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that private entities should join in an effort to pressure Iran's regime by divesting from companies that do business with the Persian Gulf nation.
He also used the occasion to hit Obama, his likely opponent in the general election, for voting against a measure in the Senate to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization and for suggesting a meeting with Iran's leaders as a way to defuse the confrontation over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
``The Iranians have spent years working toward a nuclear program,'' McCain, an Arizona senator, said in the address today in Washington. ``And the idea that they now seek nuclear weapons because we refuse to engage in presidential-level talks is a serious misreading of history.''
Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said McCain ``insists on continuing a dangerous and failed foreign policy that has clearly made the United States and Israel less secure.''
The Illinois senator is scheduled to address the group on June 4.
Policy Differences
Today's address offered McCain another opportunity to lay out his differences with Obama on foreign policy, a contrast that his campaign aides say they welcome. He also reiterated his support for the U.S.-Israel alliance and for an increase in military aid for the country scheduled to begin in October.
``I am committed to making certain Israel maintains its qualitative military edge. Israel's enemies are too numerous, its margin of error too small, and our shared interests and values too great for us to follow any other policy,'' McCain said to applause.
McCain called for a host of new sanctions, including an international campaign to restrict Iran's import of refined oil and a private divestment campaign, similar to one imposed on South Africa to end its apartheid regime in the 1980s.
``Years ago, the moral clarity and conviction of civilized nations came together in a divestment campaign against South Africa, helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid,'' McCain said. ``In our day, we must use that same power and moral conviction against the regime in Iran, and help to safeguard the people of Israel and the peace of the world.''
He reminded the audience of his support, along with Senator Joseph Lieberman for designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.
``Over three quarters of the Senate supported this obvious step, but not Senator Obama,'' he said. ``He opposed this resolution because its support for countering Iranian influence in Iraq was, he said, a `wrong message not only to the world, but also to the region.'' |
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