US vice presidential candidate condemns Hezbollah – and confuses it with Syria |
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Written by Now Lebanon | |
Friday, 03 October 2008 | |
Joe Biden, the US Democratic Party’s vice-presidential candidate, condemned Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah on Thursday night, but mixed up Hezbollah with Syria. Speaking in a debate with his opponent, Republican candidate Sarah Palin, he referred to the US’s Middle East policy by saying, “When we kicked - along with France - we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon,” a statement assumed to confuse Hezbollah with Syria. Biden said that both he and Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama had said, “‘Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know - if you don't, Hezbollah will control it.’” He went on to say, “Now what's happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel.” He also expressed concerns about Iran and groups in Lebanon that he associated with the Iranian government. “The only thing on the march is Iran,” he said. “It's closer to a bomb. Its proxies now have a major stake in Lebanon.” After saying that elections in the West Bank had been a mistake because they had led to the election of Hamas, Biden promised that Democrat policy in the region would be one of “thoughtful, real, live diplomacy that understands that you must back Israel in letting them negotiate, support their negotiation, and stand with them.” - NOW Staff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keeping Up With Biden II — Does Anyone Remember When We "Kicked Hezbollah Out of Lebanon"? [Andy McCarthy] At the debate last night, Sen. Biden argued that (a) that we had "kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon" and (b) he and Obama had suggested sending NATO troops to Lebanon to "fill the vacuum":
My question, or rather, questions: Is he on drugs? Exactly when did this kicking occur? Has anyone alerted Sheikh Nasrallah? And the NATO claim is just a riot. Obviously, there was no vacuum to fill since Hezbollah has only grown in strength in Lebanon since 1983, but has anyone seen something, anything, to support the claim that Biden or Obama wanted NATO in Lebanon — a proposal that would have been wildly controversial and would have made ballistic the hard Left voters they were then bending over backwards to attract?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updated at 7:58am ET 10/03/2008
Then we have, as Charles Johnson at LGF points out, "Mr. Foreign Policy Expert" himself, Joe Biden, confusing Gaza and the West Bank. Here’s what the president said when we said no. He insisted on elections on the West Bank, when I said, and others said, and Barack Obama said, “Big mistake. Hamas will win. You’ll legitimize them.” What happened? Hamas won. Updated at 11:21am ET 10/03/2008 Here's what the president said when we said no. He insisted on elections on the West Bank, when I said, and others said, and Barack Obama said, "Big mistake. Hamas will win. You'll legitimize them." What happened? Hamas won. Moran explains in detail the absurdity of this statement and has updated his post with a piece written by Michael Totten, who has spent considerable time on the ground in Lebanon and has a firm understanding of the political landscape there.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 ) |
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