The Hartford Courant
By Jesse A. Hamilton
WASHINGTON — - Chris Shays can be a hard politician to categorize. He's a Republican. But the 4th District congressman is known for working with Democrats on a number of liberal issues. It's when he stands in front of a pro-Israel group and talks about security in the Middle East — as he did this week — that he fits more closely with the hard-line Republican faithful.
Finish the job in Iraq, he argues, and use the threat of military intervention in dealings with Iran.
On Thursday, he was on a long list of lawmakers to speak to the Zionist Organization of America, a Jewish group dedicated to advocacy for Israel. The group sat through a series of Israel-friendly speeches. Shays' message was one of opposition to those who want to pull quickly out of Iraq and who advocate peaceful dialogue with Iran.
"I don't know how you can be pro-Israel and believe we can leave Iraq prematurely," he said to the group. "We have to finish what we started." The alternative, he argued, is leaving Iraq a chaotic power vacuum that could be filled by neighboring Iran.
Shays, who admitted that some in his district would have him commit to a peaceful approach to Iran, talked about the failed hostage negotiation efforts with Iran in 1980 and how he thought President Carter failed to show the strength he should have shown. It's a strength he thinks President Bush has clearly demonstrated.
The main thrust of his short speech to the Zionist group, though, was a request that they read the speech President Bush delivered recently to the Israeli parliament on that country's 60th anniversary.
Shays, whose own copy of Bush's speech is heavily marked with notes and highlighted passages, noted that it's not popular to side with the president these days. But Shays went ahead and read a passage from that speech last month to the Knesset: "Israel's population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you."
"That said it all for me," Shays said.
As he walked from the gathering in a basement banquet room on Capitol Hill, he turned back and said, "I have a few of these speeches I'll leave on the table. Not mine," he quickly clarified. "The president's."
He hadn't spoken as strongly as some of his colleagues. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who described himself as representing "the ZHO wing of the Democratic Party," said that aid to Palestinians should be cut off unless it produces results and that military assistance to Egypt should also be terminated, even if President Hosni Mubarak is a moderate leader. "He's going to be dead soon."
And Weiner said the Saudis should only be treated as allies "when they begin to act like it."
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., said that for Israel, "the only thing that ultimately matters is defense." And if Israel sees the need to attack Iran to protect itself, "this member of Congress will be with Israel." The crowd rose to its feet and cheered him.
After his few minutes at the microphone, Shays headed back to work, although he continued to talk in the halls about what — given more time — he might have said to the Zionist group. First, he said, he would have read more of Bush's speech.
Shays, who has often been to Israel and is among the members of Congress who have spent the most time in Iraq, is the ranking Republican on the House oversight committee's national security and foreign affairs subcommittee. (His lessons from Iraq: "We screwed things up in the beginning, but now we're on track." He said America needs a "sensible" timeline for withdrawal.)
On Iran: He isn't one who advocates a complete silence. Shays, who introduced legislation six months ago to try to track the effectiveness of sanctions against Iran, said all countries — including Iran — should have U.S. embassies, even if it's only lower-level diplomats communicating with the unfriendly nations. But he strongly supports using the implication of force — the potential of military action — in Iran diplomacy.
"You keep people wondering," Shays said. "You just don't say you won't."
Although he said that "the last thing you want is to use military force in Iran," and he's not certain that the U.S. military is even capable of large-scale action in Iran, "to say you won't makes it more likely you might have to."
Original Article: http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-shays0628.artjun28,0,2215767.story
Paid for and authorized by the Christopher Shays for Congress Committee, Ralph DePanfilis, Treasurer
Christopher Shays for Congress | 98 East Avenue | Norwalk, CT 06851
p: 203/853-7429 or 866/619-7429 (toll free) | f: 203/853-7403
© 2008 Shays for Congress
powered by eNilsson
