News Brief

John McCain attacked Barack Obama’s Iran and Iraq policies in his address to the AIPAC policy conference. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, opened the American Israel Public Affairs Committee parley Monday morning with a speech emphasizing the closeness of the U.S.-Israel relationship. In promoting a policy of continued isolation of Iran until the country ends its suspected nuclear weapons program, the Arizona senator said that Obama’s proposal to meet with Iranian leaders is a “serious misreading of history.” McCain also attacked Senator Obama (D-Ill.), his likely Democratic opponent in November, for opposing a bill last year that would have designated the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity. “Holding Iran’s influence in check, and holding a terrorist organization accountable, sends exactly the right message to Iran, to the region and to the world,” McCain told the crowd of 6,500, which gave him a standing ovation. McCain also said that maintaining force in Iraq was the key to containing Iranian influence and securing Israel. He was given another standing ovation after he said, “Allowing a potential terrorist sanctuary would profoundly affect the security of the United States, Israel and our other friends, and would invite further intervention from Iraq’s neighbors, including an emboldened Iran. We must not let this happen.”