Sen. Mike Lee is raising some eyebrows with his pledge to co-sponsor a measure that many say would destroy diplomatic relations with Iran.
Robert Naiman, Policy Director for Just Foreign Policy, says Lee’s name is listed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as one of 47 Senators who have agreed to co-sponsor a bill, pushed by Democrat Robert Menendez, that many in the U.S. intelligence committee say would put the U.S. on the path to war with Iran.
Naiman says that’s quite curious because Lee has previously opposed military action.
Some Republicans, like John McCain, never met a war they didn’t like. But Senator Mike Lee is not one of those Republicans. Senator Lee opposed U.S. military intervention in the Syrian civil war. Senator Lee opposed the U.S. bombing of Libya. If he was against the Libya war and the Syria war, it’s not at all obvious why Senator Lee should be a cheerleader for a war with Iran.
Of course, one political difference is that opposing wars in Libya and Syria were perceived among many Republicans as “anti-Obama” positions, while warmongering on Iran is currently perceived among many Republicans as an “anti-Obama” position. People who hope to wake up one day and find that partisan opportunism has disappeared from policy discussions are very likely to be disappointed.
