Click here: LeaderCall.com – Drop war talk, cut off Iran’s gas, Kirk urges
… Co-chairman of the bipartisan House Iran Working Group, Kirk for three years has been advocating cutting off Iran’s gasoline supplies to supplement other economic sanctions and weaken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hold on power.
Kirk also is trying to persuade the Bush administration to block $870 million in World Bank loans to Iran, including one for a water-treatment facility near the Islamic republic’s nuclear facility at Natanz. As co-chairman of another bipartisan ad-hoc House panel, the China Working Group, he has been pushing for creation of a multinational fund to develop alternative sources of energy for China in order to weaken Chinese diplomatic support for Iran. And as a Naval Reserve intelligence officer, he is advocating inclusion of Israel and Bahrain in the U.S. national anti-missile defense system against Iran.
…As to war threats by the Bush administration, Kirk said, “I don’t think it’s necessary. A president should always be ambiguous as to what he would do or not do to protect the U.S. and its allies. And war planning should go on behind closed doors, which is the work of the Pentagon anyway. “But my recommendation is, it’s far more productive to advance the cause of effective sanctions because this is a big step for our allies,” who may be reluctant to participate in a run-up to war.
Filed under: Opinions
