By Dion Nissenbaum
WASHINGTON--U.S. lawmakers said the Obama administration and
other nations must move quickly to contain the resurgence of
extremist violence in Iraq and prevent that country's government
from falling, saying the situation is sowing the seeds for the next
9-11-type terrorist attack.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), urged the U.S. on Sunday to work
with Iran to prevent Islamic militants from taking over Baghdad and
establishing a broader grip on the Middle East.
Mr. Graham, a longtime critic of U.S. talks with Iran, said the
potential collapse of Iraq's government makes it essential for
Washington to coordinate with Iran to stop the march of Islamic
fighters toward Baghdad.
"The seeds of 9-11 are being planted all over Iraq and Syria,"
Mr. Graham said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Mr. Graham and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers
(R., Mich.), said President Barack Obama must work with other
Middle East nations to try to stop the momentum.
"We need to re-engage our Arab league partners in what has been
a lack" of decision-making, Mr. Rogers said on Fox News Sunday.
"This is an al Qaeda minded group that is using all the tactics of
brutality. This is as dangerous as it gets."
Mr. Rogers said the greatest threat stems from the potential for
"thousands" of Westerners and Americans currently in Eastern Syria
and Iraq who hold Western passports to become radicalized and
return home to inflict terrorist damage.
Mr. Graham, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," compared the
need to work with Iran to the U.S. working with Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin during World War II to defeat Adolf Hitler and Nazi
Germany.
"Why did we deal with Stalin? Because he was not as bad as
Hitler," Mr. Graham said. "The Iranians can provide some assets to
make sure Baghdad doesn't fall."
Iran directed elite forces to help defend Baghdad as the Islamic
State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, seized major cities in northern
Iraq and marched south toward the nation's capital.
Mr. Graham said he could envision a situation where U.S. air
power was used to help Iran work with Iraq to beat back the
militant threat posed by the Sunni-led militant group.
The U.S., he said on CBS's "Face the Nation," has to establish a
"red line" with Iran: "Don't use this crisis to take territory from
the Iraqi people. Put them on notice that we will not accept their
intervention in Iraq for the purpose of creating a satellite state
for Iran."
Iran's Shiite government has a vested interest in bolstering the
Shiite-led government in Baghdad led by Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki. Mr. Maliki has been accused of marginalizing Iraq's
Sunni majority, which dominated the country's politics under
President Saddam Hussein until the U.S. invasion forced him from
power in 2003.
Write to Dion Nissenbaum at dion.nissenbaum@wsj.com
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