President Bush later told a select group at a press conference, that America would do what was necessary to prevent Iranian interference in Iraq, a thinly veiled threat of military action.

But Gravel said to his knowledge, there is still no substantiated evidence that Iran is playing a military role in the insurgency.

“it is being fabricated by the White House and being bought into by some of these senior military leaders. This is all part of the neocon plan to gain hegemony, economic hegemony in the Middle East, and that is American imperialism that we have to reverse.”

Schaeffer acknowledges that the engagement and cooperation of Iraq’s neighbours is an important factor in the eventual stabilization of Iraq and its efforts to achieve peace and democracy.

“But I think, for instance, when Senator Obama talks about opening up diplomatic channels with President Ahmadinejad, I think just helps to legitimize a leader that unfortunately has been irresponsible in his rhetoric.”

But as Senator Gravel pointed out earlier in the discussion, being irresponsible in his rhetoric is a description that could just as easily be applied to President George W. Bush.

The broadcast version of the debate can be viewed on the PressTV archive at http://www.presstv.com/pop/wmp.aspx?id=51206 - just cut and past the link into the address bar of your browser.

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