Joe Knollenberg, fool him once, you can fool him again

It's unbelievable. The National Intelligence Estimate, which is the best assessment of 16 intelligence agencies now concludes that Iran discontinued its nuclear weapons program 4 years ago. I haven't hear a word from Joe Knollenberg about this dramatic finding, but recently Congressman Knollenberg has been beating the drums of war against Iran.

On October 15 he gave a speech at the Holocaust Memorial and here is part of what he said, which I obtained from his own web site. CLICK HERE for the link to Joe's web site.

I don’t want to get political this evening. We are here to support the Holocaust Memorial Center. But I am increasingly worried about the situation in Iran. The current dictator in Tehran is a menace to the state of Israel. He’s a menace to the United States. And he’s a menace to people around the world who want to live in freedom.

The Iranian president has said on many occasions that he wants to destroy the state of Israel. I believe him, and I think we have to do everything in our power to prevent him from obtaining nuclear weapons. I know the war in Iraq is not popular. But what happens if we lose in Iraq.

The Iranian dictator, who is supporting the insurgency in Iraq, will move quickly to establish a Hegemonic presence in the Middle East. Moderate Arab nations like Egypt and Jordan will be at risk of falling victim to the scourge of radical Islam.

Now we know, from the most recent NIE, which Vice President Cheney tried to withhold from the public for a year, that Iran is not the threat that the neocons and Joe Knollenberg, have been making it out to be. In fact, it was all a lie and Congress must now hold George W. Bush to account for his lies. Joe Knollenberg needs to be held to account too.

Here is another quote from Joe's web site on a "Hegemonic Iran." CLICK HERE to read the entire page.

The Iranian president continues to march forward with his nuclear ambitions in defiance of the international community. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons because he wants to dominate the Middle East. If the United States withdraws from Iraq before the country is secure, Ahmadinejad and his desire to construct a hegemonic state will be empowered. Iraq will become a haven for radical Islamic fundamentalists who want to destroy Israel and the United States.

You would think with the recent release of the NIE that Joe Knollenberg would reassess his position. But not Joe. He's as stubborn as George W. Bush and takes his marching orders from George W. Bush.

Joe supports war with Iran

The text below is from Joe Knollenberg's Congressional blog

We Can’t Allow Iran to Go Nuclear!
Today, the House of Representatives passed very important legislation to strengthen the sanctions against Iran. As President Ahmadinejad spreads his message of hate at the United Nations and Columbia University, the House took a big step today in ensuring that America’s message is heard loud and clear: Iran must halt its nuclear ambitions and recognize Israel. Even when speaking at Columbia University, which has a study program abroad in Israel, the dictator of Iran refused to recognize the state of Israel. Ahmadinejad has stated several times that he wants to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. It’s time for the international community to take this dictator’s words at face value. He’s not joking around about his disdain for the people of Israel. This type of hatred and Iran’s continued underground activity in Iraq causes much harm to the already fragile state of affairs in the Middle East. I am proud to have been a cosponsor of H.R. 1400, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, and am pleased that the House passed this bill by a strong bipartisan margin. We need to tighten economic sanctions on Iran and do everything we can to prevent this menace state from obtaining nuclear weapons

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This is so frightening on so many levels. What Joe doesn't realize first of all is that Ahmadinejad is the duly elected leader of Iran. He is not a dictator any more than George W. Bush is a dictator, although an argument could be made that President Bush is a dictator. War with Iran would be a disaster, given this administration's absolute incompetence at waging the war and occupation with Iraq. If Joe Knollenberg doesn't understand this basic fact then we need to do everything and anything to make sure that Joe Knollenberg is not re-elected in 2008.