About Us

IMRA
IMRA
IMRA

 

Subscribe

Search


...................................................................................................................................................


Sunday, July 5, 2009
Transcript: VP Biden on ABC: Israel has a right to determine what's in its interests (Iran)

'This Week' Transcript: EXCLUSIVE: Vice President Joe Biden
ABC's George Stephanopoulos Goes Behind the Scenes with Vice President Joe
Biden in Iraq
July 5, 2009 -

ABC'S "THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS"

http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Politics/story?id=8002421&page=1

...

BIDEN: If the Iranians respond to the offer of engagement, we will engage.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But the offer is on the table?

BIDEN: The offer's on the table.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it pretty
clear that he agreed with President Obama to give until the end of the year
for this whole process of engagement to work. After that, he's prepared to
make matters into his own hands.

Is that the right approach?

BIDEN: Look, Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation --
what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and
anyone else.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Whether we agree or not?

BIDEN: Whether we agree or not. They're entitled to do that. Any sovereign
nation is entitled to do that. But there is no pressure from any nation
that's going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed.

What we believe is in the national interest of the United States, which we,
coincidentally, believe is also in the interest of Israel and the whole
world. And so there are separate issues.

If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different
than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that.
That is not our choice.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But just to be clear here, if the Israelis decide Iran is an
existential threat, they have to take out the nuclear program, militarily
the United States will not stand in the way?

BIDEN: Look, we cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and
cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination that
they're existentially threatened and their survival is threatened by another
country.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You say we can't dictate, but we can, if we choose to, deny
over-flight rights here in Iraq. We can stand in the way of a military
strike.

BIDEN: I'm not going to speculate, George, on those issues, other than to
say Israel has a right to determine what's in its interests, and we have a
right and we will determine what's in our interests.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Meanwhile, North Korea...

BIDEN: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... seven missile launches in the last 24 hours, 11 this
week. Anything the United States can do about it?

BIDEN: The question is, is there anything that we should do about it?

Look, this has almost become predictable behavior. Some of it seems like
almost attention-seeking behavior.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you don't want to give the attention?

BIDEN: And -- no, I don't want to give the attention, because, look, I think
our policy has been absolutely correct so far. We have succeeded in uniting
the most important and critical countries to North Korea on a common path of
further isolating North Korea. They're going to be faced with a pretty
difficult choice, it seems to me.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But not a task that includes very forceful enforcement of
the sanctions. The Russians and the Chinese blocked any boarding of the
ships, didn't they?

BIDEN: No, no. Well, what they did was, if you noticed, the ship had to turn
around and come back. Why? Because no port would allow them into their port.

There was no place they could go with certitude that they would not be, in
fact, at that point, boarded and searched. And so I would argue that it, in
fact, worked.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Is our policy now though basically waiting for the Kim
Jong-il regime to collapse?

BIDEN: Our policy is to continue to put united pressure from the very
countries that North Korea was able to look to before with impunity. They
could take almost any action and got no reaction, no negative reaction.

That's changed. And it is -- there is a significant turning of the pressure.
And there are going to be some very difficult decisions that that regime's
going to have make.

There's a real debate going on right now, George, about succession in North
Korea.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Reports that he's tapped his youngest son.

BIDEN: That is the report.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you believe it?

BIDEN: Well, if I had to bet, that would be my guess. But I don't think
anyone knows for certain.

...

Search For An Article

....................................................................................................

Contact Us

POB 982 Kfar Sava
Tel 972-9-7604719
Fax 972-3-7255730
email:imra@netvision.net.il IMRA is now also on Twitter
http://twitter.com/IMRA_UPDATES

image004.jpg (8687 bytes)