Published: January 23, 2007 05:22 pm      

Senator critical of action against Iran

West Virginia’s two U.S. senators — now holding powerful leadership positions — spoke out during the past few days on two subjects important to West Virginians and all the nation’s people.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, as the new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sharply criticized the Bush Administration’s increasingly combative stance toward Iran on Friday.

In a front page New York Times article, Rockefeller said the White House efforts to portray it as a growing threat are uncomfortably reminiscent of rhetoric about Iraq before the American invasions of 2003.

Rockefeller was quoted as saying the administration is building a case against Tehran even as American intelligence agencies still know little about Iran’s internal dynamics or its intentions in the Middle East. “To be quite honest, I’m a little concerned that it’s Iraq again,” Rockefeller reportedly said during an interview in his office. “This whole concept of moving against Iran is bizarre.”

The West Virginia senator reportedly said he believes President Bush is getting poor advice from advisors who argue that an uncompromising stance toward the government in Tehran will serve American interests.

According to the New York Times article, the Rockefeller comments reflect the mounting concerns being voiced by other influential Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senator Joe Biden of Delaware about the Bush administration’s approach to Iran. The Democrats have warned the administration is moving toward a confrontation with Iran when the United States has neither the military resources nor the support among American allies and members of Congress to carry out such a move.

The article said, “Because Mr. Rockefeller is one of a handful of lawmakers with access to the most classified intelligence about the threat from Iran, his views carry particular weight. He has also historically been more tempered in his criticism of the White House on national security issues than some of his Democratic colleagues.

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According to the article, Rockefeller was “biting” in his criticism of how President Bush has dealt with the threat of Islamic radicalism since the Sept. 11 attacks and was quoted as saying he believes the campaign against international terrorism is “still a mystery” to the president.

“I don’t think he understands the world,” Rockefeller reportedly said. “I don’t think he’s particularly curious about the world. I don’t think he reads like he says he does. ... Everytime he’s read something he tells you about it, I think.”

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Meanwhile U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, who has moved back into the Appropriations Chairman position, wants the Senate to move quickly to approve an increase in the minimum wage.

He told the Senate, “The fundamental promise of the American dream is that hard work leads to a better life for our families. We should continue to be a land of opportunity and not a land where fair wages and benefits are only available to some people, but not to all. We need to create a cycle of opportunity to replace the cycle of poverty that has engulfed too many working families. Raising the minimum wage is a good step forward.”

The federal minimum wage has been $5.15 an hour since 1997 and a full-time worker on minimum wage earns, before taxes, $10,712 annually. Nearly 15 million American workers live on that income although it is almost $6,000 below the poverty level for a family of three. And, the cost of living has skyrocketed since 1997.

Byrd said the increase would immediately benefit 59,000 West Virginia workers. When fully implemented in two years, as many as 133 Mountain State workers would see their paychecks increase, he said.

The addition as currently being debated by the Senate ($7.25 per hour) would mean an additional $4,400 a year for the individual minimum wage worker, the Senator said..

Byrd said the action would not only help working families, it would start to put an end to poverty.

Barbara Hawkins is chief political correspondent for the Daily Telegraph.