Bill Richardson gave this
press release today.
"This NIE tells us one of two things. Either the Bush-Cheney administration has been willfully misleading the American public on Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities or they are incompetent and were not aware of the consensus view of sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies until yesterday."
On October 17th, President Bush said: "If you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Governor Richardson added: "The NIE underscores what I have been saying all along. The next President will have to use diplomacy to accomplish our goals and strengthen our interests around the world. I am the only candidate, Democrat or Republican, who has served as an Ambassador. I will be ready on day one to go toe-to-toe with the toughest leaders in the world."
If case you missed what he's been saying all along on Iran, here's
his blog at Huffington Post from Nov 1st.
It is a tragedy that in the midst of one failed war in Iraq, George Bush and Dick Cheney are pushing a second front of failure and gearing up to attack Iran. The "unilateral sanctions" recently imposed will hurt diplomatic progress in the region, and I find it disconcerting that so many Democrats supported President Bush in his saber-rattling.
Here's an excerpt of
his statement calling for congress to pass a clarifying bill after Kyl-Liebermann from October 9th.
"Congress must put the brakes on the Bush administration's ramp-up toward military action against Iran before it is too late. There are striking similarities between how the administration distorted intelligence and rallied public and Congressional support for the war in Iraq and how it is pushing for military action against Iran. I am disappointed that Senator Clinton voted in favor of the provocative and counterproductive Senate resolution which designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. This resolution only serves to strengthen the hard-line elements in the Iranian leadership and increases the risk of war. Senator Clinton should be standing up to, rather than supporting, the saber rattlers.
He also gave a very
detailed speech on his policy proposal for dealing with Iran back on June 27th. In the speech he acknowledges our past mistakes in dealing with Iran. He included overthrowing their government, supporting the Shah, and backing Iraq in a war against them. That a politician would mention those facts in a public speech impressed me.
I also believe that we must talk to the Iranians with no preconditions. For too long, the Bush administration lectured the Iranian leadership on what it had to do before we would talk directly with them. This policy was counterproductive, and I am pleased that Secretary Rice is now starting to break this ice. Refusing to engage Iran diplomatically prevented us from making headway on issues vital to our national security, including not only nuclear weapons, but also Iraq, energy security, and Middle East peace.
...
However, no constructive dialogue with Iran is possible until we break the vicious cycle of suspicion and hostile, incendiary rhetoric. If we want Iran to improve its behavior, we would do well to stop threatening to attack them. And we should not fund Iranian émigré groups in the delusional expectation that they will somehow be able to topple the regime. The Bush administration foolishly tried this approach with Iraq, and we know what it got us. There is no reason to expect better results with Iran.
...
Most experts believe that Iran is still several years away from being capable of building nuclear weapons. We should use that time constructively to build peace, rather than rushing toward another catastrophic war.
At the same time as we initiate a new dialogue with Iran, we must redouble our diplomatic efforts across the region, beginning with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We must engage and support moderate Arabs and Muslims everywhere in their struggle with Islamist extremists. And we must get our military out of Iraq so that a new diplomatic process -- which inevitably must include Iran -- can begin.
Finally here's his
Washington Post OPED back on February 24th.
Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate. But it is a good way to start a new war -- a war that would be a disaster for the Middle East, for the United States and for the world. A war that, furthermore, would destroy what little remains of U.S. credibility in the community of nations.
A better approach would be for the United States to engage directly with the Iranians and to lead a global diplomatic offensive to prevent them from building nuclear weapons. We need tough, direct negotiations, not just with Iran but also with our allies, especially Russia, to get them to support us in presenting Iran with credible carrots and sticks.
