Long: American People Would Not Support U.S. Mideast Intervention

Sen. Russell Long (D.La.) said today that the American people would not support U.S. military intervention in the Middle East even if Israel’s security was threatened because they were tired of this country trying to be the world’s policeman. They would support intervention only if America’s security was directly threatened, the Senator told reporters here.

Long, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is a member of the Southern conservative wing of the Democratic Party that has always supported a strong U.S. military presence overseas. Asked about a situation in the Middle East that threatened Israel, he suggested that there would be more public support to move Israel to the U.S. in that event than to send U.S. forces to the Middle East.