Right-wing turns its sights on Obama

“Anything that the United States says that puts us totally behind one of the contenders, behind Moussavi, would be a handicap for that person.”

That assessment was echoed Saturday by retired General Brent Scowcroft, who served as national security adviser to former Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. “I think the administration is about right in their reaction,” he told the Journal.

“We have to keep our eye on the ball. While it would be comforting to blast what is happening over there, you have to ask how it would help matters. A more belligerent tone would not be helpful.”

But that has not deterred the critics whose prominent political leader to date has been none other than McCain himself, as well as two of his closest associates, Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham and the neo-conservative independent Democrat, Joseph Lieberman. Graham Sunday accused Obama of being “timid and passive” in dealing with Iran.

In an interview Monday with Fox News, McCain dismissed the notion that a stronger stand against the government could backfire, given Washington’s past support for the Shah or other US actions.

“Look, the point is that, all during the Cold War, there was the liberal elites who said we should not do anything to upset the Russians, whether it be the Prague Spring or the workers in Poland, in Gdansk,” he said.

“And there was Ronald Reagan who, said, ‘Take down this wall,’ called [the Soviet Union] an evil empire... And to say we don’t want to - quote - ‘meddle,’ of course, is - is -is not in keeping with that tradition in any way. In fact, it’s a direct contradiction of it.”

McCain has also called for the U.S. Navy to stop and board the North Korean vessel, the Kang Nam, which reportedly is being shadowed, ironically, by the USS John S. McCain, which is named for the senator’s father and grandfather, both of whom were admirals.

The ship is believed to be carrying military cargo proscribed by the U.N. Security Council which last month approved a resolution authorising member states to search – but only with the crew’s permission – suspect vessels. Pyongyang has said it would consider any interception an “act of war”.

“Will the president let (North Korean leader) Kim Jon Il make a mockery of U.N. condemnations?” the Journal asked Monday.

*Jim Lobe’s blog on U.S. foreign policy can be read at http://www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/.