Lieberman: Al Qaeda, Iran would control Iraq under Obama plan

By David Edwards CBS’ Bob Schieffer talked with Sen. Joe Lieberman about the Iraq policies offered by Barack Obama and John McCain. Lieberman said that if Obama’s plan had been followed then Iran and Al Qaeda would now be in control of Iraq.

Lieberman said, “If we had done what Senator Obama asked us to do, for the last couple of years, today Iran and Al Qaeda would be in control of Iraq.”

This video is from CBS’s Face the Nation, broadcast June 29, 2008.
Partial Transcript

SCHIEFFER: If he’s ready to be president, do you believe Barack Obama is not ready.

LIEBERMAN: Let me put it affirmatively which is what I really mean. We rarely make a choice between perfect and terrible. John McCain is more ready to be president on foreign and domestic policy because of his extraordinary experience. It’s good experience. It’s experience where he’s had the guts to do what’s right for his country including in Iraq where he opposed the administration policy for a long time. The surge was implemented by president bush. It’s now working. Senator Obama unfortunately like a lot of the Democratic leadership continues to take a position that we ought to withdraw which to me is retreat. Accept defeat. Even though the new policy is working. I hope Barack Obama goes to Iraq and frankly I hope he changes his position because if we had done what Senator Obama asked us to do, for the last couple of years, today Iran and Al Qaeda would be in control of Iraq. It would be a terrible defeat for us and our allies in the middle east and throughout the world. Instead, we’ve got a country that’s defending itself, that’s growing economically. Where there’s been genuine political reconciliation and where Iran and Al Qaeda are on the run. That’s the way it ought to be.

SCHIEFFER: You’re saying if we had done a drawdown, as Senator Obama had suggested, that Iran would now be in control of Iraq?

LIBERMAN: Yeah. Here’s what I mean. It’s the leadership of the Democatic party on this issue I respectfully but deeply disagree. Because they were saying a year ago, two years ago, Iraq was lost. They were saying, they were proposing amendments that would have ordered a withdrawal, a retreat of our forces to begin and end rather rapidly. If that had happened in Iraq today there wouldn’t be an Iraqi government. There would be chaos. There would probably be genocide, definitely civil war and the main beneficiaries of that would be Iran and Al Qaeda. Instead, Al Qaeda is on the run, on the verge of a terrible defeat or one of our most significant victories over them since 9/11. Maybe the most significant. Iran is being pushed back. Just a couple of weeks ago, prime minister maliki of Iraq went to Tehran and Ahmadinejad and the supreme leader Hamanai pleaded with Maliki, “don’t enter into a long-term strategic agreement with america.” he said, sorry, folks, I want to have good neighborly relations with you but the americans are our friends. We appreciate what they’ve done for us and we’re sticking with them.

Video and more