Sen. Lieberman Calls for U.S. Strike Against Iran

By: Sen. Joseph Lieberman said Sunday the United States should consider a military strike against Iran because of Tehran's involvement in Iraq.

''I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq,'' Lieberman said. ''And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers.''

The U.S. accuses Iran of fostering terrorism and Tehran's nuclear ambitions have brought about international reproach.

Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000 who now represents Connecticut as an independent, spoke of Iranians' role in the continued violence in Iraq.

''By some estimates, they have killed as many as 200 American soldiers,'' he said. ''Well, we can tell them we want them to stop that. But if there's any hope of the Iranians living according to the international rule of law and stopping, for instance, their nuclear weapons development, we can't just talk to them.

''If they don't play by the rules, we've got to use our force, and to me, that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they're doing.''

Lieberman said much of the action could probably be done by air, although he would leave the strategy to the generals in charge.

''But they can't believe that they have immunity for training and equipping people to come in and kill Americans,'' he said. ''We cannot let them get away with it. If we do, they'll take that as a sign of weakness on our part and we will pay for it in Iraq and throughout the region and ultimately right here at home.''

Lieberman spoke on ''Face the Nation'' on CBS.

Norman Podhoretz in a Wall Street Journal op-ed recently called for an attack on Iran.