GORDON ADAMS
Adams is a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. After the House voted today to approve the Democratic bill on Iraq, he said: “This outcome is a good first step. It is an important victory for Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker, and an important second message — after the election result — to the White House that public support for the Iraqi adventure is waning. … The next steps are political, too. If this bill reaches the White House, which is not certain, it will be vetoed. But it is a first legislative step, not the last one. … The money, though, continues to flow. As our national security and our international leadership hemorrhage, so does our spending for national security. An administration which suggests that over $600 billion a year is not enough for the military to play its role in guaranteeing our national security should resign. The next step is for the Congress to take control over this spending; this bill does not do that; it continues the bleeding.”

REESE ERLICH
Erlich is author of the upcoming book The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis. He said today: “Given U.S. and British maneuvering in Iraq, some kind of clash with Iran is inevitable. The U.S. has sent two aircraft carrier groups to prowl off the shores of Iran, kidnaped Iranian diplomats, and sponsored terrorist attacks against Iran. So no one should be surprised by today’s incident. The U.S. is preparing public opinion for possible military attacks against Iran, which will only sink the United States deeper into a protracted Middle East crisis.”

Erlich’s article in the March-April issue of Mother Jones magazine, “The Celibates of Ocalan,” looks at how the U.S. government is using Iranian dissident groups to carry out terrorist attacks inside Iran.

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167