Scarborough: Call to attack Iran 'neoconservatism on crack'

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough blasted the Republican Senator of South Carolina Monday for saying the United States should seek regime change in Iran through the use of military force.

"I don't get this," said Scarborough on his show Morning Joe. "This is neoconservatism on crack. How many miles of terrain does the United States have to occupy?"

On Saturday, Senator Lindsey Graham told attendees of the Halifax International Security Forum that although the "last thing America needs is another military conflict," having a nuclear armed Iran is completely unacceptable.

"So my view of military force would be not to just neutralize their nuclear program, which are probably dispersed and hardened, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard," Graham said. "In other words, neuter that regime."

Graham added that the United States should destroy their ability to conduct military operations and "hope the people inside Iran would have a chance to take their government and be good neighbors to the world in the future."

When asked about Graham's comments, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said he thought they were a "joke" and that they should be ignored.

"Don't take the American senator's remark too seriously," he told reporters.

This is not the first time Graham has advocated the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute in September, Graham called for military action to support "regime change" in Iran.

"From my point of view, if we engage in military operations as a last resort, the United States should have in mind the goal of changing the regime," Graham said. "Not by invading, but by launching a military strike by air and sea."

Scarborough's guest, Iranian-American writer and religious scholar Reza Aslan, noted that a military strike against Iran would do little to support regime change in that country.

"Well listen, the Iranians as we know, hate their own government," stated Aslan. "They would like nothing more than a change in regime… But they are also, with the possible exception of Americans, the most patriotic, most nationalistic people on earth. This isn't Iraq, this isn’t Afghanistan… If you attack Iran, it's the best way to ensure that this government goes absolutely nowhere."

"It will unify Iran and the Iranians, unlike a lot of our so-called allies in the Middle East, the public likes America," added Scarborough.

Below is video of Morning Joe, which aired Monday, November 8th, 2010.