Mullen, running interference, sounds confused?
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen was in Israel for a quick visit on Sunday. On Monday, he spoke to the Aspen Security Forum. Which statement doesn't fit? A military strike against Iran would be "incredibly destabilizing" to the region said the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. He believes Iran will continue to pursue nuclear weapons, even if sanctions against the country are increased.Well, obviously, if you interpret "incredibly destabilizing" as "we won't do it," that statement does not fit. But that is not what Mike Mullen is saying.
Speaking Monday at the Aspen Security Forum, Mullen said it would be "incredibly dangerous" for Iran to achieve nuclear weapons, and that there's "no reason to trust" Iran's assurances that it is only pursuing a peaceful nuclear program, especially after the discovery of a secret nuclear facility near the holy city of Qom.
Mullen said there was no reason to expect Iran to conform to international norms, given its past behavior, but he declined to describe what measures the US was considering. He has often said that all options remain on the table.Well, I can tell you that the IDF has had spies in Iran for quite some time (a friend recently confirmed to me that people in his unit had been in Iran). So is Israel feeding the US information about Iran's nuclear progress that is going to convince the US that "incredibly destabilizing" is a necessary and acceptable risk when compared to the alternatives?
He explained that the hardest part about trying to decide what to do about Iran is how much the US does not know about the country's nuclear progress.
When asked whether he thought Israel would give the United States time to see whether tougher sanctions or talks would produce more cooperation from Iran, he would only say that he believes the US and Israel are "in sync" with their current policies.
Here's Mullen meeting with IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Sunday. Let's go to the videotape.
They look quite comfortable together, don't they?
And here's Mullen meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Let's go to the videotape.
It's perhaps worth noting here that Mullen's entire visit to Israel was unplanned - he was in Afghanistan on Saturday and they suddenly announced Saturday night that he was coming here on Sunday. I'd take that as yet another indication that something is happening on Iran.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:26 AM
1 Comments:
I agree its all about Iran - and Obama may decide that he can only get Israel to hold back if the US military takes care of Iran first. And I expect Netanyahu to put Iran first on the table at the White House and tell Obama bluntly that if Iran is not neutralized, the US can forget about a two solution in the future. I'm sure Israeli leaders relayed that same message to Mullen so the Americans are in no doubt that Israel is deadly serious and if America doesn't act, Israel will do so in the future.
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