Joe Lieberman's Nixonian Deception on Iraq

At last night’s debate, Senator Lieberman once again dismissed calls for a change of course in Iraq as “retreat” and “giving up” – yet contradicted himself and claimed he is really for ending the war in Iraq. We saw these kinds of contradictions and machinations thirty five years ago, during the Vietnam War. As an explosive new video shows, Lieberman is parroting – almost word-for-word – the language of Richard Nixon in 1969. Nixon that year delivered one of his most famous speeches on the Vietnam War, pretending to Americans that he was working to end the war. Yet, at exactly the time Nixon was making his “end the war” statements, he continued aggressively pushing the war for three more years – at a cost of 9,000 American lives. Just as Nixon clearly had no intention of ending the war in 1969, Lieberman is engaging in Nixonian deception when he says in 2006 that he wants to end the Iraq War, as he has opposed every single effort to end the war.

Watch or download the video and then forward to your friends. The quotes are below:

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RICHARD NIXON:

“I want peace as much as you do.” – Nixon, November 3, 1969

JOE LIEBERMAN:

“I have said the sooner we get out of Iraq, the better.” – Lieberman, July 6, 2006

“no one wants to end the war in Iraq more than I do and bring our troops home.” - Lieberman, October 18, 2006

RICHARD NIXON:

“Now, many believe that President Johnson's decision to send American combat forces to South Vietnam was wrong. And many others -- I among them -- have been strongly critical of the way the war has been conducted. But the question facing us today is: Now that we are in the war, what is the best way to end it?” – Nixon, November 3, 1969

JOE LIEBERMAN:

“I supported the use of force in Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power because I believed that he was a grave threat to our country, his people, and the world. And I continue to believe that decision was right. Since then, I have often disagreed with how the war has been run. The one question that really matters right now is how to move forward and provide a better future for the Iraqi people and more security for the American people.” – Lieberman, September 25, 2006

RICHARD NIXON:

“An announcement of a fixed timetable for our withdrawal would completely remove any incentive for the enemy to negotiate an agreement. They would simply wait until our forces had withdrawn and then move in.” – Nixon, November 3, 1969

JOE LIEBERMAN:

“If you tell your enemy when you're going to leave, they'll wait and create disaster. If you want to turn Iraq over to the terrorists, follow the policy you've enunciated.” – Lieberman, July 6, 2006

RICHARD NIXON:

“I would be untrue to my oath of office if I allowed the policy of this nation to be dictated by the minority who hold that point of view and who try to impose it on the nation.” – Nixon, November 3, 1969

JOE LIEBERMAN:

“There is a real but unfortunately too often overlooked or concealed bipartisan American consensus in favor of this new war.” – Lieberman, April 26, 2004