Senator John McCain
AIPAC Policy Conference 2008
June 2, 2008
www.aipac.org/Publications/SpeechesByPolicymakers/PC_08_McCain.pdf

Thank you very much. Thank you for that kind welcome and thank you, Ron, for
your generous remarks and the invitation to address you. I see that we have
some students here, including a few from Arizona and I welcome you to
Washington and your money and it's--it's a pleasure as always to be in the
company of the men and women of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee.

And I know that all of us are proud to be in the company of my dear and
beloved, distinguished Senator from the State of Connecticut, my dear
friend, Joe Lieberman. Joe, thank you; a man of humility, a man of kindness,
and a great and dear friend--not only of America--my family, State of Israel
and the world.
My friends, all of you involved in the work of AIPAC have taken up a great
and vital cause and a cause set firmly in the American heart. When President
Truman recognized the new State of Israel 60 years ago he acted on the
highest ideals and best instincts of our country. He was a man with courage
and a sense of history; and he surely knew what great challenges the Jewish
State would face in its early years. To his lasting credit, he resolved that
the people of Israel would not face them alone because they would always
have a friend and ally in the United States of America.

The cause of Israel and of our common security has also depended on men and
women of courage, and I've been lucky enough to know quite a few of them. I
think often of one in particular, the late Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. I
got to know Senator Jackson when I was the Navy Liaison Officer to the
United States Senate. In 1979, I traveled with him to Israel where I knew he
was considered a hero. But I had no idea just how admired he was until we
landed in the airport in Tel Aviv to find a crowd of 700 or 800 Israelis
calling out his name, waving signs that read God Bless You Scoop and Senator
Jackson, Thank You. Scoop Jackson had the special respect of the Jewish
people, the kind of respect accorded to brave and faithful friends. He was
and remains the model of what an American Statesman should be.

The people of Israel reserve a special respect for courage because so much
courage has been required of them. In the record of history sheer survival
in the face of Israel's many trials would have been impressive enough but
Israel has achieved much more than that these past 60 years. Israel has
endured and thrived and their people have built a nation that's an
inspiration to free nations everywhere.

Yet no matter how successful a nation of Israel or how far removed from the
Holocaust their experiences will never pass from memory. Not long ago I was
in Jerusalem with Senator Lieberman and our colleague Lindsay Graham, and we
went to the Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem. And for all the boundless
examples of cruelty and inhumanity to be found there, for all the pain and
grief remembered there, somehow I was especially moved by the story of the
camp survivors who died from the very nourishment given to them by their
liberators. They'd starved and suffered so much that their bodies were too
weak even for food. They endured it all, only to die at the moment of their
deliverance. These are the kinds of experiences that the Jewish people carry
in memory and they are far from the worst experiences of the Holocaust.
These are the kinds of grieves and afflictions from which the State of
Israel offered escape, and today when we join in saying never again that is
not a wish or request or a plea to the enemies of Israel; it is a promise
that the United States and Israel will honor against any enemy , against
enemy--any enemy --against any enemy who cares to test us.

The threats to Israel's security are large and growing and America's
commitment must grow as well. I strongly support the increase in military
aid to Israel scheduled to begin in October. I am committed to making
certain Israel maintains its qualitative military edge. Israel's enemies are
too numerous --Israel's enemies are too numerous, its margin of error too
small, and our shared interests and values too great for us to follow any
other policy. Foremost --foremost in all our minds is the threat posed by
the regime in Tehran. The Iranian President has called for Israel to be
wiped off the map and suggested that Israel's Jewish population should
return to Europe. He calls Israel a stinking corpse; that it's on its way to
annihilation but the Iranian leadership does far more than issue vial
insults. It acts in ways directly detrimental to the security of Israel and
the United States. A sponsor of both Hamas and Hezbollah, the leadership of
Iran has repeatedly used violence to undermine Israel in the Middle East
peace process; it has trained, financed, and equipped extremists in Iraq who
have killed American soldiers, fighting to bring freedom to that country. It
remains the world's chief sponsor of terrorism and threatens to destabilize
the entire Middle East from Basra to Beirut.

Tehran's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons poses an unacceptable risk, a
danger we cannot allow. Emboldened by nuclear weapons, Iran would feel free
to sponsor terrorist attacks--any--against any perceived enemy. It's
flouting of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty would render that agreement
obsolete and could induce Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others to join a
nuclear arms race. The world would have to live indefinitely with the
possibility that Tehran might pass nuclear materials or weapons to one of
its allied terrorist networks. Armed as well with its ballistic missile
arsenal an Iranian nuclear bomb would pose an existential threat to the
people of Israel.

European negotiators have proposed a peaceful end-game for Tehran should it
abandon its nuclear ambitions and comply with the UN Security Council
Resolutions. The plan offers far-reaching economic incentives, external
support for a civilian nuclear energy and program, and integration into the
international community. But Tehran has said no. The Iranians have spent
years working toward a nuclear program and the idea that they now seek
nuclear weapons because we refuse to engage in Presidential level talks is a
serious misreading of history.

In reality--in reality a series of Administrations have tried to talk to
Iran and none harder--none tried harder than the Clinton Administration. In
1998 the Secretary of State made a public overture to the Iranians, laid out
a road map to normal relations and for two years tried to engage. The
Clinton Administration even lifted some sanctions and Secretary Albright
apologized for American actions going back to the 1950s. But even under
President Khatami a man by all accounts less radical than the current
President, Iran rejected these overtures. Even so we hear talk of a meeting
with the Iranian leadership offered up as if it were some sudden
inspiration, a bold new idea that somehow nobody has ever thought of before.
[Laughs] Yet it's hard to see what such a Summit with President Ahmadinejad
would actually gain except an earful of anti-Semitic rants and a worldwide
audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds
about starting another. [Emphasis Added]

Such a spectacle would harm Iranian moderates and dissidents as the radicals
and hardliners strengthen their position and suddenly acquire the appearance
of respectability. Rather than sitting down unconditionally with the Iranian
President or Supreme Leader in the hope that we can talk sense into them, we
must create the weary world pressures that will peacefully but decisively
change the path that they are on. Essential to this strategy --essential to
this strategy is the UN Security Council which should impose progressively
tougher political and economic sanctions. Should the Security Council
continue to delay in this responsibility, the United States must lead
like-minded countries in imposing multi-lateral sanctions outside the UN
framework. I'm proud to have been a leader on these issues for years having
co-authored the 1992 Iran/Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act.

Over a year ago I proposed applying sanctions to restrict Iran's ability to
import refined petroleum products on which it is highly dependent and the
time has come for an international campaign to do just that. A severe limit
on Iranian imports of gasoline would create immediate pressure on Khomeini
and Ahmadinejad to change course and to cease in the pursuit of nuclear
weapons. At the same time, we need the support of those in the region who
are most concern about Iran and of our European partners as well. They can
help by imposing targeted sanctions that will impose a heavy cost on the
regime's leaders, including the denial of visas and freezing of assets; as a
further measure to contain and deter Iran, the United States should impose
financial sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran which aids in Iran's
terrorism and weapons proliferation. We must--we must apply the full force
of law to prevent business dealings with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

I was pleased--I was pleased to join Senators Lieberman and Kyle in backing
an Amendment calling for the designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a
terrorist organization responsible for killing American troops in Iraq. Over
three-quarters of the Senate supported this obvious step, but not Senator
Obama. He opposed this Resolution because its support for countering Iranian
influence in Iraq was he said quote a wrong message not only to the world
but also to the region. [Laughs] But here too, he's mistaken; holding Iran's
influence in check and holding a terrorist organization accountable sends
exactly the right message to Iran, to the region, and to the world.

We should privatize the sanctions against Iran by launching a worldwide
divestment campaign. As more people--businesses, pension funds, and
financial institutions across the world divest from companies doing business
with Iran the radical elite who run that country will become even more
unpopular than they are already.
Years ago--years ago the moral clarity and conviction of civilized nations
came together in a divestment campaign against South Africa helping to rid
that nation of the evil of apartheid. In our day, we must use that same
power and moral conviction against the regime in Iran and help--and help to
safeguard the people of Israel and the peace of the world. In all of this,
we will not only be defending our own safety and welfare, but also the
democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. They are a great--they are a
great and civilized people with little sympathy for the terrorists their
leaders finance and no wish to threaten other nations with nuclear weapons.
Iran's rulers would be very different if the people themselves had a choice
in the matter and American policy should always reflect their hopes for a
freer and more just society.

The same holds true --the same holds true for the Palestinian people most of
whom ask only for a better life in a less violent world. They are badly
served by the terrorist led group in charge of Gaza; this is a group that
still refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, refuses to denounce
violence, and refuses to acknowledge prior peace commitments. They
deliberately target Israeli civilians in an attempt to terrorize the Jewish
population. They spread violence and hatred and with every new bombing they
setback the cause of their own people.

During my last visit to Israel in March I saw for myself the work of Hamas
in the town of Sderot just across the Border as you know from Gaza. I saw
the houses that had been hit by Hamas rockets; in the face of injuries,
death, and destruction thousands of Israelis have had to flee. Many others
have stayed to carry on as best they can. I visited the home of a man named
Pinhas Amar, who lives with his disabled wife, Aliza and their children. One
day last year the sirens sounded again to alert the town to incoming
rocket-fire. The rest of the family found cover. Aliza on the other side of
the house was knocked out of her wheelchair and struck by shrapnel. This
occurred on December 17th and from that day until the day of my visit just
some three months later, more than 1,000 rockets had struck Sderot. Today,
siren warnings are commonplace; the elementary schools are surrounded by
concrete shelters and children walking the streets in costume for Purim
celebrations did so in fear.

No nation in the world would allow its population to be attacked so
incessantly, to be killed and intimidated so mercilessly without responding.
And the nation of Israel is no exception. Prime Minister Olmert and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are engaged in talks that all of us hope
will yield progress toward peace. Yet while we encourage this process we
must also insure that Israel's people can live in safety until there is a
Palestinian leadership willing and able to deliver peace. The peace process
that places face in terrorists can never end in peace and we do no favors to
the Palestinian people by conferring approval upon the terrorist syndicate
that has seized power in Gaza.

Likewise, Israel's chance for enduring peace with Lebanon depends on a
Lebanese government that has a monopoly on authority within its country's
Borders. That means no independent militias, no Hezbollah fighters, no
weapons and equipment flowing to Hezbollah. Hezbollah fighters recently took
up arms against their fellow Lebanese starting the worst internal fighting
since the Civil War ended in 1990. In the process they extracted an
agreement for a new political arrangement in which Hezbollah and its allies
can veto any Cabinet decision. As a leader of Hezbollah often reminds us,
this group's mission is the defeat of Israel. The international community
needs to more fully empower our allies in Lebanon, not only with military
aid but also with the resources to undermine Hezbollah's appeal--better
schools, hospitals, roads and power generation and the like. We simply
cannot afford to cede Lebanon's future to Syria and Iran.

And we have an additional task; in the summer of 2006 Hamas and Hezbollah
kidnapped--kidnapped three young Israelis, Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and
Ehud Goldwasser. And they've held them ever since. I met with the families
of two of these men in December 2006 and heard firsthand about their ordeal.
I committed then to bring attention to their situation, to insist that the
Geneva Conventions are observed and call for the swift release of these men.

These men are being unlawfully held and they must be set free and--and
returned home to Israel.

Another great--matter of great importance to the security of both America
and Israel is Iraq. You would never know from listening to those who are
still caught up in angry arguments over yesterday's options but our troops
in Iraq have made hard-one progress under General Petraeus' new strategy.
And Iraqi political leaders have moved ahead slowly and insufficiently but
forward nonetheless. Sectarian violence declined dramatically; Sunnis in
Anbar Province and throughout Iraq are cooperating in the fight against Al
Qaeda and Shia extremist militias no longer control Basra. The Malaki
government and its forces are in charge. Al Qaeda terrorists are on the run
and our troops are going to make sure that they never--never come back.

It's worth recalling that America's progress in Iraq is the direct result of
the new strategy that Senator Obama vehemently opposed. It was the strategy
he predicted would fail when he voted to cut off funds for our forces in
Iraq. He now says he intends to withdraw combat troops from Iraq one to two
brigades per month until they're all removed. He will do so regardless of
the conditions in Iraq, regardless of the consequences for our national
security, regardless of Israel's security and in disregard of the best
advice of our Commander's on the ground. This course will result in a
catastrophe. If our troops are ordered to make a forced retreat we risk all
out civil war genocide and a failed state in the heart of the Middle East.
Al Qaeda terrorists would rejoice in the defeat of the United States;
allowing a potential terrorist sanctuary would profoundly affect the
security of the United States, Israel, and our other friends and would
invite further intervention from Iraq's neighbors, including a very much
emboldened Iran.

We must not let this happen. We must not leave the region to suffer chaos,
terrorist violence, and a wider war. My friends, as the people of Israel
know better than most, the safety of free people can never be taken for
granted. And in a world full of dangers, Israel and the United States must
always stand together.

The State of Israel stands as a singular achievement in many ways and not
the least is its achievement as the great democracy of the Middle East. If
there are ties between America and Israel that critics of our alliance have
never understood perhaps that's because they do not fully understand the
love of liberty and the pursuit of justice. But they should know--they
should know those ties cannot be broken. We were brought together by shared
ideals and by shared adversity; we have been comrades in struggle and
trusted partners in the quest for peace. We are the most natural of allies
and like Israel itself--that alliance is forever. Thank you.