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Photo: AP
Palin: Don't 'second guess' Israel
Republic vice-presidential candidate says in interview to CBS that Israel must have the opportunity and ability to protect itself, emphasizes that US can't afford to send message that they would allow second Holocaust
The United States shouldn't second guess Israel if it decides to attack Iran, according to Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, in an interview with Katie Couric on CBS.
When asked to elucidate this statement, which she has made several times in the past, she explained: "We shouldn't second guess Israel's security efforts because we cannot ever afford to send a message that we would allow a second Holocaust, for one."
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"Israel has got to have the opportunity and the ability to protect itself. They are our closest ally in the Mideast. We need them. They need us. And we shouldn't second guess their efforts," she added.
When asked about whether the US was not in its right to express its position to Israel, Palin clarified: We don't have to second-guess what their efforts would be if they believe … that it is in their country and their allies, including us, all of our best interests to fight against a regime, especially Iran, who would seek to wipe them off the face of the earth."
"It is obvious to me who the good guys are in this one and who the bad guys are. The bad guys are the ones who say Israel is a stinking corpse and should be wiped off the face of the earth," Palin asserted.
"That's not a good guy who is saying that. Now, one who would seek to protect the good guys in this, the leaders of Israel and her friends, her allies, including the United States, in my world, those are the good guys," she said.
During the interview, Palin criticized Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama regarding his support of dialoguing with Iran's leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
" I think, with Ahmadinejad, personally, he is not one to negotiate with. You can't just sit down with him with no preconditions being met. Barack Obama is so off-base in his proclamation that he would meet with some of these leaders around our world who would seek to destroy America and that, and without preconditions being met. That's beyond naïve. And it's beyond bad judgment," she said.
"I've never heard Henry Kissinger say, "Yeah, I'll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met." Diplomacy is about doing a lot of background work first and shoring up allies and positions and figuring out what sanctions perhaps could be implemented if things weren't gonna go right. That's part of diplomacy," she added.
