News item:
US OFFICIALS are considering whether to accept Iran’s pursuit of uranium enrichment, which has been outlawed by the UN and remains at the heart of fears that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons capability.
As part of a policy review commissioned by President Barack Obama, diplomats are discussing whether the US will eventually have to accept Iran’s insistence on carrying out the process, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material….
Yesterday, Mr Obama summarised the US message to Iran as, “Don’t develop a nuclear weapon†– a form of words that would not rule out a deal accepting Iranian enrichment. Mr Bush was much more specific in calling for Iran to halt enrichment…
Asked last month whether the administration was considering allowing Iran to keep a limited enrichment capability, Robert Wood, a state department spokesman, said: “I don’t know . . . Let’s let the review be completed and then we can spell out our policies.†— David Dombey, Financial Times (h/t: LGF)
The next step will be “you can make a bomb, but please don’t put it on a missile.” And then, “you can develop deliverable weapons, but please don’t use them.”
The Obama Administration certainly knows where Israel’s red lines are. It must understand that if — when — they are crossed, there will be no practical way that the US can stop Israel from attacking Iran.
Obama and his people are playing a very dangerous game, which can be described as trying to squeeze Israel to make every possible concession up to the brink of actual suicide, in order to prove to the Arabs and Iran that the US is their friend.
The rapidly radicalizing Muslim world will never be friendly to the West as we know it. Giving up Israel will only speed up the process. But the administration seems incapable of understanding this.
I cannot judge what the next step will be. In the best case it will be to try to impose a peace, which is probably impossible. In the worst, it will be to let Israel fall into the abyss because that was the intention from the start. There are certainly those in the administration who are aiming for the second outcome.
But there are some concessions which Israel simply can’t make because they are existential. So Obama should be prepared for the results of his policy.
Technorati Tags: Israel, Iran, Obama, Iranian nuclear weapons
Policy seems in development, it is only the first two months of Office, and the US is facing serious domestic issues.
Your desire to overemphasize pressing points repeatedly works to a certain extent.
Why would Israel choose to fall into any abyss? It wouldn’t. So where does that leave Israel?
If anything, Israel is likely working closely with the US to determine whether sustainable preemptive action should be taken within the year.
Irresponsible enrichment and radical Muslims potentially trading Iranian nuclear warheads unconscionably, is the most pressing issue.
Iran is the only radical muslim state in the middle east; the Saudis don’t want Iran to enrich and develop nukes, Kuwait does not, Morrocco does not, Israel does not, Egypt does not, Qatar does not, but made a mistake supporting Hamas, and a host of other countries in the Middle East do not, including Bahrain, and the UAE. Regardless of their dealings with Israel.
Taking out Iran’s potential purchasers such as rogue dictatorships and/or rogue muslim fundamentalist groups with little material wealth, is likely the main priority.
Keeping a realistic, non-anthropomorphic perspective is important, otherwise Israel becomes the sole focus of potential threat, and that is a burden that neither Israel nor any other country needs.
Although Iran has clearly expressed anti-Israel sentiment, it is not clear that its dealings with Chavez in S. America have any affect on the middle east . . . so, potential customers for Iran should be the primary targets at this point.
This is a rare case when I take exception to the analysis of Vic Rosenthal. I think it premature to conclude that the Obama Administration is simply acquiescing to the coming into being of a nuclear Iran. That is a real danger. And it is clear that Gates and Mullen and all responsible parties are extremely reluctant to enter any military confrontation with Iran. Yet it is by no means clear that the United States will simply sit quiet.
Do not forget the threat is expanding all the time with Iran’s increasing the range of its missiles. It is not far away from the time when it could reach with a new missile , continental United States. This is the red line which I believe even the most pacifistic Secretary- of- Defense and President could not ignore.
I also believe that Obama is at this point not about to abandon Israel. But of course my opinion is an opinion.
I think one of Netanyahu’s great challenges will be to inform and teach Obama on Mid- East realities. He is a great learner but it is not certain that he will give Bibi a chance to be his teacher.