Tom Cotton stated publicly: "Our policy must be clear: regime change in Iran."

[charrob]

REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN
(http://www.democracynow.org/2015/3/12/ex_us_official_with_iran_letter)


NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, I want to turn to comments made by Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton, the senator who spearheaded the letter to Iran. Just weeks into his first term in the Senate, he warned against a nuclear deal with Iran while speaking at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.



SEN. TOM COTTON: First, the goal of our policy must be clear: regime change in Iran. We cannot and will not be safe as long as Islamist despots rule in Iran. The policy of the United States should therefore be to support regime opponents and promote a constitutional government at peace with the United States, Israel and the world. The United States should cease all appeasement, conciliation and concessions towards Iran, starting with the sham nuclear negotiations. Certain voices call for congressional restraint, urging Congress not to act now, lest Iran walk away from the negotiating table, undermining the fabled yet always absent moderates in Iran. But the end of these negotiations isn’t an unintended consequence of congressional action. It is very much an intended consequence, a feature, not a bug, so to speak. Third, congressional actions should start with crippling new sanctions against Iran. These sanctions should be immediate. They should not be contingent on further negotiations with Iran. On the contrary, Iran is achieving, through slow motion, all that it might want in a final deal, exploiting the Obama administration’s desperation to keep the negotiations alive and for a deal, any deal. It’s time for the responsible adults in both parties of Congress to stop this farce.


NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was Republican Senator Tom Cotton, who led efforts to have this letter signed and sent to Iran, and authored it. So, Ali Gharib, can you talk about who Tom Cotton is? Your recent piece is called "Meet Tom Cotton, the Senator Behind the Republicans’ Letter to Iran."

ALI GHARIB: Tom Cotton is himself a Harvard graduate and Harvard Law graduate, and he’s sort of gained conservative fame by calling in 2006 for James Risen and Eric Lichtblau of The New York Times to be jailed for writing a story about how the U.S. tracks terrorism finances. And this was a sort of a young guy who’d left law school and he’d joined the military and was at the time deployed in Iraq. Now, that open letter that he wrote at the time—he’s a fan of the format—got the attention of Bill Kristol, who began meeting with Cotton when he was deployed stateside at Arlington National Cemetery in 2007. And they would, you know, according to The Atlantic, frequently go out for drinks together. And then, you know, over the next few years, they developed this relationship, years before Cotton entered politics. Eventually, he was elected to the House in 2012, spent two years there before becoming a freshman senator and immediately making a splash by distinguishing himself as the most hawkish member of an incredibly hawkish body.

And this letter is basically par for the course for him. It’s exactly what he’s trying to do, is end these—you know, you can just listen to Tom Cotton himself. He’s trying to end these negotiations. And he doesn’t quite say that the next step is military action, but it seems patently obvious that if you want U.S. policy to be regime change and you want them to have no nuclear program at all, there aren’t a lot of ways to accomplish that unless you’re going to attack them militarily. And so, this is basically the pattern. And it’s no surprise then that The Daily Beast reported that this letter was produced in conjunction with advice from Bill Kristol. Bill Kristol is a guy who’s called for attacking Iran for years now; literally maybe eight years he’s been calling for it publicly. And so, Tom Cotton has really been shepherded along. Nermeen, as you mentioned, he took in a million bucks for his campaign in ad buys from the Emergency Committee for Israel. These are exactly the type of neoconservative hawks who drove us into Iraq, and these are the people who have shepherded and really birthed Tom Cotton’s political career. It’s not a surprise that he’s here doing what he’s doing.


So, in a sense, Cotton's letter was telling the Iranians: "We're going to blow up your country, put in another puppet dictator, and no matter what you agree to in these negotiations will not change that. Our goal is to stop any and all negotiations. Then bomb your country to impose regime change." The fact that 47 Republican Senators signed on to that letter knowing Cotton is calling for nothing less than regime change in Iran is chilling. Every one of them must realize that Russia will NOT stand by as the U.S. imposes yet, another, regime change in the middle east and in particular a regime change in Iran since Russia recently signed a military agreement to defend Iran if she is attacked.

[juleswin]

This is Rand's out, he better use this opportunity to denounce the silly idea for a regime change and make it known that he supports a good faith peace negotiation. Its now clear that nobody sane should ever sign their name to anything prepared by Tom Cotton.

Neocons must be having a hard on watching this man perform. Pro war, pro military spending increase and pro NSA. You couldn't ask for a more neocon representative in govt.

[Sola_Fide]

Tom Cotton: " We must support and establish another terrorists state so that we can fight them next year. I make sense."

[enhanced_deficit]

Cotton is a dope republican.. a fake Israel/Saudi dictatorship defender. Where was he when Bush was not only refusing to invade Iran 2004-2008 but was prosecuting top Israel looby officials for espionage after they tried to get Iran intel from pentagon?

All this drama is due to puppetship weakness of ddg regime.

[Sam I am]

This is Rand's out, he better use this opportunity to denounce the silly idea for a regime change and make it known that he supports a good faith peace negotiation. Its now clear that nobody sane should ever sign their name to anything prepared by Tom Cotton.

Neocons must be having a hard on watching this man perform. Pro war, pro military spending increase and pro NSA. You couldn't ask for a more neocon representative in govt.

What opportunity? This isn't new news, and Rand already put his name on the letter. As I read this article, it's someone pointing out that Tom Cotton said this stuff last year.

[wizardwatson]

http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Tom_Cotton.htm#Principles_+_Values

Tom Cotton says:

(wizardwatson: parentheses are mine)

Jihadists attack us for who we are. (May 2013) (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)
Iraq War was just and noble. (Mar 2013) (noble unless you are an Iraqi or a thinking person)
Iraq and Afghanistan wars were just and necessary. (Nov 2012) (well at least he fought in it, I'll give him that! - officer though so doesn't count as much)
Voted YES on protecting cyber security by sharing data with government. (the best defense is to trust the government, that's die hard GOP there)
I consider myself pro-life. (except for Iranian unborn babies whose pregnant mother will be destroyed by drones)
I believe in God; and only God has all the answers. (except when it comes to destroying Iran, Tom's got that one figured out)

Endorsed Member of the Tea Party movement. (naturally)


Another "just war" false Christian bent on annihilating his neighbor.

[charrob]

What opportunity? This isn't new news, and Rand already put his name on the letter. As I read this article, it's someone pointing out that Tom Cotton said this stuff last year.

The article says that Tom Cotton publicly stated this in the last few weeks, not last year. It is new news to me: I wasn't aware that he said that. This is really chilling. First Ukraine, now Iran. It's like they are doing everything they can to get into a war with Russia.

[Sam I am]

The article says that Tom Cotton publicly stated this in the last few weeks, not last year. It is new news to me: I wasn't aware that he said that. This is really chilling. First Ukraine, now Iran. It's like they are doing everything they can to get into a war with Russia.

It did not say "last few weeks" it said "weeks into his first term"

[charrob]

It did not say "last few weeks" it said "weeks into his first term"

And his first term started in January -- so he apparently stated this sometime in late January or February.

[Brian4Liberty]

This is Rand's out, he better use this opportunity to denounce the silly idea for a regime change and make it known that he supports a good faith peace negotiation.

Already done. Rand is in favor of negotiations and peace. Go to 2:15.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDxMpKZR0dM

[Brian4Liberty]

Notes on Senator Tom Cotton:


The last, best hope for GOP hawks? (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/tom-cotton-defense-hawks-bush-90754.html)
...
Arizona Sen. John McCain and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Senate’s leading GOP hawks, have both reached out to Cotton to urge him into the 2014 Senate race...

The Weekly Standard, the flagship publication for national security conservatives, has obsessively promoted Cotton’s speeches and campaign activities. Cotton has been close with the Standard’s editor, Bill Kristol, since striking up a friendship over email while deployed in uniform...

His most enthusiastic fans are less concerned about keeping up appearances. Republican strategist Michael Goldfarb (http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Goldfarb_Michael), a former McCain spokesman and himself a Weekly Standard alum, called Cotton “one of a vanguard” of fresh-faced hawks...


Tom Cotton's Neocon Recklessness (http://nationalinterest.org/feature/tom-cottons-neocon-recklessness-12395)
...
Tom Cotton, the freshman senator from Arkansas, Iraq war veteran, and protege of William Kristol...


Neocon meteor Sen. Cotton is funded by Abrams, Adelson and Kristol and loves war a little too much (http://mondoweiss.net/2015/03/militaristic-adelson-kristol)
...
The neoconservatives reached out and groomed Tom Cotton when they saw him coming down the pike. The Harvard College and Harvard Law grad spent just one term in the Congress before challenging and defeating Mark Pryor last fall.
...
Neoconservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin embraced Cotton back in 2012.
...
The sixth-generation Arkansan who grew up on a cattle farm read Leo Strauss the neocon icon when he was in college.
...
Kristol’s Emergency Committee for Israel bankrolled the Cotton campaign with $1 million...


GOP’s New Foreign Policy Hero Is a Surveillance-Loving Interventionist Nightmare (http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/11/gops-new-foreign-policy-hero-is-a-survei)
...Freshman Sen. Tom Cotton wants to invade Iran and Syria, jail journalists and whistleblowers, eavesdrop on Americans
...Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol's biggest new political protégé, and also a target of sustained affection from National Review...


http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?450257-The-Neoconservative-Reference-List&p=5808361&viewfull=1#post5808361

[DamianTV]

Regime Change = Installing US Controlled Puppets.

[cindy25]

dumbest thing ever now. Iran regime change would mean ISIS taking over Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and possibly the gulf states.

the caliphate would rule from Pakistan from Libya, and Pakistan has nukes

[thoughtomator]

BECAUSE THAT WORKED SO WELL THE LAST TIME


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_AHJQiMxIw

[TaftFan]

I support it obviously, but it would be a mistake for the U.S. to get involved with it.

[idiom]

This would be the 3rd US organised regime change in Iran. The Clerics took power in '79 by default. They were the only civil institution left after US advisors dismantled the rest of Iranian society over 30 years.

[presence]

Interesting.


I've been hoping for regime here at home for as long as I can remember.

[Original_Intent]

Regime change - the U.S. should lead by example.

[DamianTV]

If they get their way, make no mistake that things will stop with Iran. All these countries that have fallen are only Dominos and the Endgame Goals are total control of Russia and China.

[orenbus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWHgeSwn3bc

[AngryCanadian]

Regime Change worked so in the past few years. Didn't it?

Tom is probably pissed that Iran isn't a puppet to the Saudis yet.

[jmdrake]

http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Tom...iples_+_Values

Tom Cotton says:

(wizardwatson: parentheses are mine)

Jihadists attack us for who we are. (May 2013) (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)
Iraq War was just and noble. (Mar 2013) (noble unless you are an Iraqi or a thinking person)
Iraq and Afghanistan wars were just and necessary. (Nov 2012) (well at least he fought in it, I'll give him that! - officer though so doesn't count as much)
Voted YES on protecting cyber security by sharing data with government. (the best defense is to trust the government, that's die hard GOP there)
I consider myself pro-life. (except for Iranian unborn babies whose pregnant mother will be destroyed by drones)
I believe in God; and only God has all the answers. (except when it comes to destroying Iran, Tom's got that one figured out)

Endorsed Member of the Tea Party movement. (naturally)
Another "just war" false Christian bent on annihilating his neighbor.

Here's what I don't get. We put in a Shiite Islamic republic in Iraq while complaining about the Shiite Islamic republic in Iran.

[pcosmar]

If they get their way, make no mistake that things will stop with Iran. All these countries that have fallen are only Dominos and the Endgame Goals are total control of Russia and China.

NO,, The end game is a One World Government. It will take another Cataclysmic War to institute that.

WWI> League of Nations
WWII> United Nations
WWIII> One World Government (NWO)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtlO39wIRWs


"The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the "agentur" of the "Illuminati" between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion…We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time."

[pcosmar]

Here's what I don't get. We put in a Shiite Islamic republic in Iraq while complaining about the Shiite Islamic republic in Iran.
And at the same time,, we kiss the ring (and ass) of the despotic leaders of Saudi Arabia.

and it ain't just about oil. That is just the means to make it happen.

[AngryCanadian]

NO,, The end game is a One World Government. It will take another Cataclysmic War to institute that.

WWI> League of Nations
WWII> United Nations
WWIII> One World Government (NWO)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtlO39wIRWs

One World Government Where America controls everything and everyone. What makes you think this will even succeed? its no wonder why half of the world already hates America.

[acptulsa]

One World Government Where America controls everything and everyone. What makes you think this will even succeed? its no wonder why half of the world already hates America.

Who the hell are you talking to?

You continually forget that we come here to try to prevent this crap.

This will succeed over our dead bodies. Capische?

If you want to be angry with someone, have you ever considered being angry with the actual people you're actually angry with? Are you trying to convince yourself you're superior to us because you're in a nation that plays a more subsidiary role, but is doing the same thing as ours? Are you actively trying to stop it, or just pointing fingers at any scapegoat collective you can find and bitching a lot?

Hoser.

[Zippyjuan]

Yeah- threaten regime change. Like that will convince them to not go nuclear.

[UWDude]

If they get their way, make no mistake that things will stop with Iran. All these countries that have fallen are only Dominos and the Endgame Goals are total control of Russia and China.

It's a game of Risk, and the world is starting to see one player win.

[Sola_Fide]

Yeah- threaten regime change. Like that will convince them to not go nuclear.

Zippy said something non-contrarian on RPFs! +rep!

[fr33]

If war with Iran happens, I feel that I will probably root for Iran. They have a history that is more peaceful than the nation of my birth.

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

Cotton is a dope republican.. a fake Israel/Saudi dictatorship defender. Where was he when Bush was not only refusing to invade Iran 2004-2008

He was killing people in Iraq.

[AngryCanadian]

Who the hell are you talking to?

You continually forget that we come here to try to prevent this crap.

This will succeed over our dead bodies. Capische?

If you want to be angry with someone, have you ever considered being angry with the actual people you're actually angry with? Are you trying to convince yourself you're superior to us because you're in a nation that plays a more subsidiary role, but is doing the same thing as ours? Are you actively trying to stop it, or just pointing fingers at any scapegoat collective you can find and bitching a lot?

Hoser.

Thanks for the laugh. America a superior nation in destroying other countries, making sure there is no competition threatening your global dominance.

[UWDude]

NO,, The end game is a One World Government. It will take another Cataclysmic War to institute that.

WWI> League of Nations
WWII> United Nations
WWIII> One World Government (NWO)



"The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the "agentur" of the "Illuminati" between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion…We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time."


That quote is a hoax. It uses terms like "fascism" and "naziism"

http://wideshut.co.uk/albert-pikes-3-world-wars-letter-hoax-wideshut-webcast/

Something about it just did not seem right, so I looked it up. Sure enough.

[PRB]

Yeah- threaten regime change. Like that will convince them to not go nuclear.

They want nucular? We'll give it to them!

"regime change" sounds SOOO familiar, where did we hear that last? Was it a Republican?