Lieberman: US Should 'Stick With' Mideast Peace Process
US Sen. Joseph Lieberman, in a wide ranging discussion of US policy in the Middle East, said the US should “stick with” the peace process and seek at least “a partial agreement” between Israel and Palestinians, adding he is “not seeking any position in whatever administration is elected,” although he would give any offer “serious consideration.”
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor’s Andrew Parasiliti, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and one of the Senate’s most influential voices on national security, said “my particular brand of foreign policy thinking generally, not just on the Middle East, seems to have more followers in the Republican Party than the Democratic party these days”, and that while “I’m not seeking any position in whatever administration is elected,” if asked, “I’d certainly give it serious consideration.”
On Syria, Lieberman said he was “very skeptical” about Iran’s involvement in any regional initiative, although “It would be great if Iran was going to assist in finding some way to convince Assad to go and create transitional process to a new government, but I don’t see anything they’ve done to show that that’s the case.”
On Iran, Lieberman said “I will continue to support the diplomatic and economic attempts to resolve this crisis with Iran until it’s clear that there is no alternative but a military strike ... so far the Iranians have given us no reason to believe that the diplomatic path will work to resolve this crisis and that is the real tragedy here."
Asked his reaction to Mitt Romney’s statement that there is “no way” to reach an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, Lieberman said “if we stick with it there’s an opportunity to reach at least a partial agreement that will enable progress to occur on the ground for both parties that is Palestinian people and Israeli people and that should be the US goal.”
