Joe Klein: "Nukes Should Be on the Table"

Joe Klein appeared on ABC's "THIS WEEK" Sunday and started off sounding fairly reasonable. Then came the patented Klein switch: Off into Bill Kristol-neocon-kool-aid drinking lunacy land.
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Joe Klein appeared on ABC's "THIS WEEK" Sunday, and started off, as is his wont, sounding fairly reasonable in the discussion about Iran. According to Joe, the young people really, really like us. Kids today, right? But then came the patented Klein switch: Off he veered into Bill Kristol-neocon-kool-aid drinking lunacy land. (See the video here)


Klein: And so, yeah, by all means, we should talk to them, but, on the other hand, we should not take any option, including the use of nuclear....tactical nuclear weapons off the table.

George Stephanopoulos was so stunned by Klein's statements that he shot back an opportunity for Klein to walk back the brinksmanship:


Stephanopoulos: Keep that on the table?

Klein: It's absolutely stupid not to.

Stephanopoulos: That's insane.

Yes Joe, That's insane. As Digby notes:

"The look on Klein's face when Steph did that was priceless. It was obvious that he thought he was saying something that everybody but the fever swamps believes is the sober centrist position."

How many times have you heard a mainstream "Sunday Talk Show" host call one of his guests insane?

One of the central points of Sy Hersh's article laying out the Bushies Iran war plans is that the inclusion of nukes in an attack plan against Iran has our military leaders so freaked out they are demanding it be pulled or they will quit:

Hersh: And then, of course, nobody in their right mind would want to use a nuclear weapon in the Middle East, because it would be, my God, totally chaotic. When the JCS, the joint chiefs, and the planners wanted to walk back that option, what happened is about three or four weeks ago, the White House, people in the White House, in the Oval Office, the vice president's office, said, no, let's keep it in the plan.

That doesn't mean it's going to happen. They refuse to take it out. And what I'm writing here is that if this isn't removed -- and I say this very seriously. I've been around this town for 40 years -- some senior officers are prepared to resign. They're that upset about the fact that this plan is kept in.

It seems that Klein doesn't share those views.

On a slightly different note, I understand that Joe is blogging here at the Huffington Post now and I find it very odd since he has been so outspoken against bloggers. He said this on Lou Dobbs a while back::

Klein: Well I bow to nobody in, in my disdain for bloggers. They're all opinions and very little information.

Guess he was against blogging before he was for it. At least we listen to the opinions of military experts.
As FDL says:

Joe Klein is no dummy; despite his blog-hating rants he knows the future for people like him is in pixels not paper. This was quite clearly an attempt to make a beachhead over at the Huffington Post, and it was a glorious, miserable failure:

Welcome to our world Joe, and be assured that we have the same warm and fuzzies for you that you have for bloggers. You'll find a fruit basket on the table and a copy of Dr. Strangelove in the DVD player. Watch it, it will serve you well.

(John Amato is the creator of Crooksandliars.com)

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