The real issue
As much as I believe it is important to fight against the Goldstone Report and against Human Rights Watch's biases - and I have devoted an inordinate amount of time to fighting that fight this week - ultimately I believe that these issues are a distraction from our most important fight: Iran. The situation with Iran can be summed up in four words: Time is running out. On Tuesday, the Bipartisan Policy Center published a report called "Meeting the Challenge - Time is Running Out."Well at least someone thinks we're not bluffing! I've gotten emails from Israelis responding to things I've written on this blog claiming that Israel will never attack Iran. Quite simply, we're approaching the point where the choices are attack Iran or accept it as a nuclear power. As between the two, most Israelis would choose to attack.
Authored by two former US senators and the former deputy head of the US Military European Command, which is responsible for Israel, the report warns that Israel may attack in one of two scenarios.
"Should we fail to act decisively to curtail Iran's nuclear program in the near term, or if it appears likely that Iran is about to obtain game-changing military technology - such as Russia's S-300 anti-aircraft system - Israel, more likely than not, will act on its own," the authors wrote.
The White House is likely aware of this possibility but for that reason Israel is hoping that the dialogue with Iran, which reports said Tuesday would begin on October 1, will have a set deadline and limited gestures.
The two likely scenarios are that either the US fails to reach a deal with Iran, or reaches some sort of compromise with Teheran under which it allows the Islamic Republic to continue enriching uranium to develop a nuclear power program, but at the same increases supervision and compliance with IAEA regulations. Israel would be left to decide if it can live with such a deal.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:13 PM
1 Comments:
Carl - the US just stabbed the Poles and the Czechs in the back by scrapping its missile defense shield - and the incredible rationale advanced for this perfidious move by Vice President Joe Biden was there is no threat from Iran!
This should be a wake-up call to Israel to stop negotiating away its rights over Yesha. The Obama Administration does not keep previous commitments the US made to other allies. Why then should Israel expect Obama to keep his word to Israel?
And the settlements and talk of a Palestinian state above all are a distraction from the real issue - Iran. Its time for Israel's government to get back to work on dealing with it. Time is indeed running out.
Post a Comment
<< Home