Cheney Links Action on Iran To Winning Iraq (Jewish Daily Forward)

http://www.forward.com/articles/cheney-links-action-on-iran-to-winning-iraq/

Washington - The Bush administration and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are pressing the Jewish community to support the war in Iraq, arguing that American failure there would hurt Israel’s security and America’s efforts to thwart Iran’s nuclear program.

Vice President Dick Cheney made the argument during a speech Monday to an estimated 6,000 activists who were in Washington for the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

“It is simply not consistent,” Cheney said in his Monday speech, “for anyone to demand aggressive action against the menace that is posed by the Iranian regime while at the same time acquiescing in a retreat from Iraq that would leave Israel’s best friend, the United States, dangerously weakened.”
. . .

Cheney’s call on pro-Israel activists to oppose withdrawal from Iraq overshadowed the annual Aipac gathering. Organizers had hoped the plenum would focus on the need for tough economic measures against Iran, without having the effort portrayed publicly as advocating military action against the regime in Tehran.

But the attempts to avoid such a portrayal suffered a blow Monday, when Congressional Quarterly reported on Aipac’s role in blocking a House proposal that would require the Bush administration to get congressional approval before taking military action against Iran.

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