DEARBORN — Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, while meeting with editors of The Arab American News on Sunday at a Dearborn restaurant, said that if elected, he would be willing to meet with anyone in order to work for peace in the Middle East. Even, he said, if it meant talking to groups currently designated by the government as terrorist organizations. “I can go to Israel, and I can go to the Palestinians and work to craft a peace. And I will. I can go to Syria. I can go to Iran and work to craft a path towards peace. And I will,” the Ohio Congressman said. “I can meet with Hamas. I can meet with Hizbullah, and say ‘Look. Let’s work together to create peace. No other person running for president could or would do that. No one else.”

Elizabeth Kucinich

He said that engaging all the different groups would be the key to achieving “strength through peace,” a slogan often used by his campaign. “I think people want a leader who can be open to listening compassionately to the concerns of people on all sides, and recognize that there’s suffering going on on all sides… How can you change people’s minds if you don’t meet with them? “We say we want peace. I support Israel. How can I make the point with Hamas and Hizbullah if I can’t meet with them?”

Kucinich and his wife Elizabeth also spoke of a more honest approach to foreign policy in general, calling it “truth and reconciliation.”

“The nations of the world will be ready to love America all over again if America has a leader who tells the truth and takes a conciliatory approach and says ‘Let’s reconcile,'” Kucinich said. He said that the people were lied to leading up to the war in Iraq, are being lied to on the path to war with Iran, and are being lied to about the Palestinians. “We need to let people know that people are being cut off from electricity and water in Gaza, that children’s lives are at risk, and that we’ll never have a hope for peace if America doesn’t take an even handed approach in the region.”

The congressman, who has been placing fourth and fifth among Democrats in most recent polls, spoke in his usual fearlessly idealistic and irreverent tone, unafraid of perceptions of naiveté or delusion. He spoke in the same manner earlier in the day to an Arab American crowd at a political leadership conference, receiving a resounding standing ovation. “You see so many people who are finding it difficult to make ends meet while our country has endless amounts of money for war,” he said after the speech. “We’re not taking care of the health care needs of our people, the education, the employment needs. What are we doing to our country? What’s going on with America here? “What I will do — you have to see the connection between international policy and domestic policy — if you’re focused on war all the time internationally, which is where America is, you can’t take care of your domestic needs. It’s impossible. We tried one way. We tried this reach for empire, and it’s not working. So we’re going to give the American people a chance to try something else, to try a president who is committed to peace and prosperity. They go hand in hand. Poverty and war go hand in hand as well, except for the arms manufacturers.”

He went on to question the mental stability of President Bush and others, a statement that would appear in headlines across the country later in the week, after he repeated it in other cities. “What is wrong with our leaders?” Kucinich asked. “There’s a point at which the desire for war among our leaders becomes so powerful, one has to begin to ask about the medical conditions of these people. And I’m not kidding.”