CasualApathy
06-10-2008, 10:15 PM
JOSH GERSTEIN
NY Sun
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
An unusual coalition of interest groups from left and right is launching a drive today to head off an American military attack on Iran by pushing America into high-level negotiations with Tehran.
The Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran, which bills itself as "transpartisan," consists of more than three dozen organizations, most of them left-leaning, such as the American Friends Service Committee, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Open Society Policy Center, which is backed by George Soros.
However, the campaign also has the backing of a smattering of right-of-center groups, including the American Conservative Defense Alliance, the Libertarian Party, and the American Cause, which is headed by Patrick Buchanan.
"The current rumor here in Washington is that Bush will attack after the November elections so it won't hurt the Republican nominee politically. Many around him say he feels he has to do something before he leaves office," a campaign organizer, Carah Ong of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, said. "Part of this is to raise the fact that a military attack is likely and it needs to be prevented."
The campaign to push for direct talks with Iran's mullahs is kicking off with a press conference this morning on Capitol Hill expected to feature the Libertarian nominee for president, Robert Barr, as well as several members of Congress, including Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Barbara Lee of California, both Democrats, and Rep. Ron Paul, who mounted a bid for this year's Republican presidential nomination. Brandishing red telephones supposed to symbolize a hotline to Tehran, the group will urge supporters to call Congress and press for talks.
The campaign's lobbying day follows close on the heels of a lobbying effort last week by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which encouraged its members to promote legislation that would put stricter sanctions on Iran. Ms. Ong said the timing was a coincidence.
Others involved in the talk-to-Iran campaign include a former CIA official, Philip Giraldi; a former adviser to President Reagan, Douglas Bandow; a former State Department official, Flynt Leverett, and the president and founder of the National Iranian American Council, Trita Parsi.
Full article here. (http://www.nysun.com/national/group-forms-to-head-off-war-on-iran/79667/)
NY Sun
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
An unusual coalition of interest groups from left and right is launching a drive today to head off an American military attack on Iran by pushing America into high-level negotiations with Tehran.
The Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran, which bills itself as "transpartisan," consists of more than three dozen organizations, most of them left-leaning, such as the American Friends Service Committee, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Open Society Policy Center, which is backed by George Soros.
However, the campaign also has the backing of a smattering of right-of-center groups, including the American Conservative Defense Alliance, the Libertarian Party, and the American Cause, which is headed by Patrick Buchanan.
"The current rumor here in Washington is that Bush will attack after the November elections so it won't hurt the Republican nominee politically. Many around him say he feels he has to do something before he leaves office," a campaign organizer, Carah Ong of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, said. "Part of this is to raise the fact that a military attack is likely and it needs to be prevented."
The campaign to push for direct talks with Iran's mullahs is kicking off with a press conference this morning on Capitol Hill expected to feature the Libertarian nominee for president, Robert Barr, as well as several members of Congress, including Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Barbara Lee of California, both Democrats, and Rep. Ron Paul, who mounted a bid for this year's Republican presidential nomination. Brandishing red telephones supposed to symbolize a hotline to Tehran, the group will urge supporters to call Congress and press for talks.
The campaign's lobbying day follows close on the heels of a lobbying effort last week by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which encouraged its members to promote legislation that would put stricter sanctions on Iran. Ms. Ong said the timing was a coincidence.
Others involved in the talk-to-Iran campaign include a former CIA official, Philip Giraldi; a former adviser to President Reagan, Douglas Bandow; a former State Department official, Flynt Leverett, and the president and founder of the National Iranian American Council, Trita Parsi.
Full article here. (http://www.nysun.com/national/group-forms-to-head-off-war-on-iran/79667/)