How is it being in the Senate at the moment? These are tense times. Obviously, Iraq is on everyone’s mind. The new strategy is much more than doing the same old thing with more people and the big effort of adding more military capability. But it’s not just going to be about additional troops. You know, 40 percent of people in Baghdad are unemployed and the rule of law is almost non-existent. The surge on all fronts has increased tension in the Senate and colors every other issue. What effect has the changeover to Democrat control in the Senate had? Well, that’s a good point. The biggest change is having a Democratic Committee Chairman that probably makes it tough on the Bush administration in terms of hearings. So when its 51-49, it’s not a whole lot different. For a guy like me who has got some ability to reach across the aisles it actually empowers me. So with 49 Republicans and 51 Democrats, no one can run over the other. So it requires, more than ever really, a give and take and I hope we can bind that give and take on the big issues of our time like immigration reform, social security reform and, obviously, the war. So, in the Middle East, America has a bit of an identity crisis or a PR disaster, actually. That’s the way a lot of people view it. Have you visited the area yourself? Yes, I have done some reserve duty in the UAE, Afghanistan and Qatar. As what? I am an Air Force colonel. What I am trying to impress upon the region is that whatever mistakes we have made, and there have been plenty as an American government, the biggest mistake would be to lose unity of purpose, because the elements trying to destabilize Iraq are insurgents who want to take over the country and not the region per se. But they have a very dark view of how Iraq would operate in the region. The Sunni extremists really would have a religious theocracy that would be comfortable for Al Qaeda. The Shi’ite extremists would want an Iranian style theocracy and that to me, even if it is confined to Iraq, puts pressure on everybody in neighboring areas. But the worst problem we are all facing is that there are some groups, foreign in nature, particularly Al Qaeda, who are trying to destabilize Iraq as part of a greater plan. And I am very adamant that the United States cannot withdraw from the fight in Iraq, because once you get placed on the run in the Middle East, there is no end to it. And this idea that we can redeploy to a safer area I think is naive, because wherever we go it would be a neighboring state, a Gulf state. The Al Qaeda members who want to drive us out of the region will come after us in those states and say you are not safe here. And if Iraq becomes a failed state and Al Qaeda has an operating capacity from Iraq, their goal is pretty clear: to destroy any particular democratic efforts in Iraq and other places and eventually go after the Gulf states who have shown a lot of moderation and a lot of economic tolerance. So if Iraq fails it’s the Gulf states next and our forms of moderation are in the crossfire … and eventually the state of Israel is very much compromised. So the stakes are high and I hope the people understand that whatever mistakes we have made we were there to try to prevent the spread of some of the darkest forces in the history of humanity, those who have a very dark view of how we are to live together. Don’t you think America is making a mistake in not engaging with Iraq’s neighbors regardless of past history? I think the biggest mistake we could make is engage Iran at a time when they refuse to give up their nuclear weapons program. If you talk to Iran about Iraq you are basically giving them an opportunity to leverage their nuclear program. The Iranians do not want a democracy in Iraq, period. The reason they are involved in Iraq, trying to destabilize democracy, is that it would be a nightmare to have a neighbor that elects their representatives, that’s religiously tolerant. Syria is funding Hezbollah, a radical Shi’ite group; it is funding Sunnis in Iraq, the Syrian dictatorship. The last thing they want is a democratic Lebanon or Iraq. So I don’t believe talking with Syria and Iran before they perform better helps. It empowers them. The world needs to come to grips with the idea that the Iranian regime continues along the course they charted regarding nuclear enrichment. There’s going to be a confrontation, militarily, one day. The Israelis are not going to sit on the sidelines for years and years and watch the Iranians go nuclear. I think the thing we should be focusing on is the Iranians’ unwillingness with the United Nations to control their nuclear program. We should be focusing on serious meddling in Lebanon and Iraq and changing their behavior, not negotiating with them. When it comes to meddling, though, there is an argument in the Middle East among many Arabs that America is the greatest meddler of them all with what it has done in Iraq. Well, what I would say is that America has gone to Iraq to replace a dictator that created chaos in the region. You know, Kuwait was on the receiving end of Saddam Hussein, and the Palestinian suicide bomber community received support, making a resolution between Palestine and Israel almost impossible. He was up to no good. He was a bad neighbor, he gassed his own people and I am glad he is gone and eventually the world will be better for it. We didn’t go there for the oil, we didn’t go there to own anything, we went there for our national security interests and our national security interests in America, we believe, is to stand with the moderate forces against the extremists. And the only way we will win the war on terror is … to empower those who would live tolerably with us and everyone else. And to the Sunni Arab nations in the region, is it in your best interest to see Iran meddle and destabilize Iraq and grow stronger? Is it in your interest to have Iran have a puppet government in the south of Iraq? People have to answer these questions. Finally, how do you feel about your senatorial colleagues on other parties on their engagement trips to Syria? Well, we are all Senators, we are an independent branch of the government, but I am dying for the world to speak with one voice when it comes to Iran. That the world tells the Iranian government nuclear power for peaceful purposes, yes, but the enrichment program you have is not going to be tolerated. I am dying for the world to speak with one voice to Syria. Quit funding Hezbollah, with trying to be involved in destabilizing Lebanon.

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