Key proponent of Iraq War, friend of Kurdistan Region dies at 82

NEWSROOM — Joseph Isadore Lieberman, a seminal figure in American politics and key proponent of the Iraq War, has died at the age of 82 in New York City following complications arising from a fall.

His career spanned decades, beginning with his election as a “Reform Democrat” to the Connecticut Senate in 1970, where he served three terms and became Majority Leader. He was the Connecticut Attorney General before narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Lowell Weicker in 1988 for a U.S. Senate seat.

Lieberman’s notable achievements include his nomination as the first Jewish candidate on a major U.S. party’s presidential ticket during the 2000 election alongside Al Gore. Their ticket won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College in a hugely controversial election.

Controversial and, as it would turn out, consequential. George W. Bush – via the Supreme Court – clinched the presidency.

Lieberman’s tenure in the Senate was marked by his stance on the Iraq War. His support for the U.S. intervention in Iraq emerged as a defining aspect of his political legacy, diverging from his own party.

As an outspoken advocate for the invasion, Lieberman played a pivotal role in shaping the conversation around U.S. foreign policy and national security post-9/11. His position on Iraq, underscored by his co-sponsorship of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002, cemented his reputation as a hawkish figure on foreign policy issues.

This stance contributed to his increasingly strained relations with the Democratic Party, leading to his loss in the Senate Democratic primary in 2006. Nevertheless, Lieberman won reelection as an independent candidate, defeating both Democratic and Republican opponents.

By the end of 2004, the war in Iraq – marked by increasing insurgency and violence – was growing ever more controversial in the U.S. Despite this, President Bush found a steadfast ally in Senator Lieberman. Lieberman visited Iraq at least four times in the two years following the invasion. During these visits, he keenly observed signs of progress amid the turmoil. He noted, “Progress is visible and practical. There are many more cars on the streets, satellite television dishes on the roofs, and literally millions more cell phones in Iraqi hands than before.”

Lieberman further highlighted the ‘optimistic outlook’ among Iraqis, mentioning that “two-thirds [of Iraqis] say they are better off than they were under Saddam Hussein.” Emphasizing the strategic approach of the United States, he stated, “Does America have a good plan for doing this, a strategy for victory in Iraq? Yes, we do. And it’s important to make clear to the American people that the plan has not remained stubbornly still, but has changed over the years.” Even though Lieberman would admit “mistakes have been made,” he cautioned against a precipitous withdrawal, asserting, “What a colossal mistake it would be for America’s bipartisan political leadership to choose this moment in history to lose its will and, in the famous phrase, to seize defeat from the jaws of the coming victory.”

In order to bring about that victory, Lieberman was unequivocal: “It is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be Commander-in-Chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine Presidential credibility at our nation’s peril. It is time for Republicans in the White House and Congress who distrust Democrats to acknowledge that greater Democratic involvement and support in the war in Iraq is critical […] To encourage that new American partnership, I propose that the President and the leadership of Congress establish a bipartisan Victory in Iraq Working Group.”

Iraqis had gone to the polls three times 2005, handing Shia factions a huge plurality of votes in the new parliament on either side of a constitutional referendum. By 2006, Iraq had descended into chaos. Lieberman’s proclamations of impending victory came just over a year before President Bush’s fated ‘surge’ in troop numbers aiming to bring “stability” to Iraq via the deployment of 30,000 more troops.

In 2009, Lieberman co-sponsored a non-binding measure introduced by then Senator Joe Biden that sought to divide Iraq into three decentralized regions – Shia, Sunni and Kurdish. Shia politicians, including then Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, rejected the idea, insisting it was for Iraqis to decide on their own governance.

With casualties mounting in the rest of Iraq, advocates of the war back in the United States would find welcome relief in the Kurdistan Region, which benefited most from the invasion and would express the most gratitude for it.

Lieberman, alongside his colleagues Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, formed a trio famously dubbed the “Three Amigos.” United by their shared vision for interventionist American foreign policy, they embarked on numerous diplomatic missions together. 2008 saw Lieberman endorse his Republican friend McCain over the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. Beyond mere bi-partisanship, Lieberman’s career was marked by cross-partisan eclecticism. In 2012, one of the Three Amigos’ missions was to the Kurdistan Region, where they met with Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Region at the time. Lieberman would go on to tweet that Barzani was a “Kurdish patriot and true friend of the U.S.”

Just months earlier, Lieberman was pushing a bill in the Senate to remove the longstanding designation linking the KDP and PUK to terrorism. Rhetorical disputes between Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki were rapidly rising in temperature, with fears back in the Washington of an outbreak in hostilities causing a headache for the Obama administration during an election year. Barzani would visit the White House in April 2012 to demand the removal of the designation as Obama sought to placate the Iraq’s Kurdish political forces.

After leaving the Senate in 2013, Lieberman took on several roles that continued his involvement in legal, educational, and policy advocacy realms. He joined Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, focusing on defense and investigations, and also co-chaired the American Enterprise Institute’s American Internationalism Project with former Senator Jon Kyl.

Additionally, Lieberman served as a counselor at the National Bureau of Asian Research and held a teaching position at Yeshiva University. In public policy advocacy, he chaired the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense and the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran – Lieberman had at many points advocated for tougher stances on Iran, including military action.

Despite being interviewed by the Trump administration as FBI Director in 2017, he withdrew his candidacy.

Continuing his engagement with global affairs, Lieberman attended the Munich Security Conference last month, where he met with PUK leader Bafel Talabani. He maintained long standing relationships with influential figures in Iraqi politics, including Bafel’s late father, Jalal Talabani, who served as Iraq’s first post-war president.

In a poignant tribute, President Biden fondly remembered Joe Lieberman as “a good man,” while the White House characterized him as “principled and unafraid to stand up for what he believed was right” in a recent statement.

His funeral will be held in a synagogue in the town of Stamford, Connecticut, with political leaders from around the United States expected to attend the ceremony. Lieberman grew up in Stamford in a Jewish working-class family.