Friday, February 24, 2012

Iran and Obama Share a Common Goal: Stopping Israel


Iran and Obama Share a Common Goal: Stopping Israel

Gelb stipulates that the common agenda between Washington and Tehran does not mean they are acting in concert. The lines of communication between the two governments are so tenuous that such collaboration would be impossible even if suspicion between them were not so intense. But the priority for both is to be able to postpone any resolution of the issue. Obama’s hope is that by holding out the prospect that sanctions will bring Tehran to heel, he can exert sufficient leverage on Israel in order to prevent them from attacking Iran. Such an attack would unleash a host of unforeseen circumstances that might upset his re-election plans. Similarly, the ayatollahs would like to give just enough room for talks about talks in order to play for more time to continue developing their weapon plans. Yet since it is painfully obvious that sanctions will not work and that the only point of negotiations would be to allow Iran to run out the clock on their nuclear timetable, the push to put off any attack appears to be tantamount to a concession that the West and Israel will have to live with a nuclear Iran.
An attack on Iran by Israel would be a perilous undertaking so it is not surprising that Israel’s government has not made up its mind about taking such a decision. However, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak understand that even if the West undertakes a complete oil embargo of Iran sometime later this year that would not guarantee that Tehran would wave the white flag on its nuclear plans. They also know that the longer they wait the chances for a successful strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities will diminish.
But the biggest factor influencing their decision will be their level of trust in President Obama’s promises on Iran. The administration has done little to inspire confidence in their sanctions plan due to the reluctance with which they have pursued the project. The Israelis know that Obama’s default position will always be a preference for negotiations even if talks with Iran are not merely doomed to failure but will actually sere the Islamist regime’s purpose of delaying action.
Even more worrisome is that the administration’s determination to squelch unilateral action by Israel seems to be greater than its alarm about Iran. Hence the multiple statements by American defense and military figures seeking to throw cold water on the idea of an attack on Iran may have had the opposite effect on Israel than Obama intended. Rather than convince them to listen to the Americans’ advice and rely on their diplomatic tactics to stop Iran, they may have instead persuaded Netanyahu and Barak that Obama has no intention of ever taking action. While Obama must continue to insist that an Iranian nuke is a non-starter while he is running for re-election, the Israelis understand that the White House may be singing a far different tune next January once Obama’s lease on the premises is extended for another four years.
Like Gelb, the Israelis may well understand that Obama’s show of concern over Iran and his belief that sanctions and diplomacy will avert that nuclear threat is mere play-acting whose only purpose is to put them off. The question facing Netanyahu and Barak is whether they are prepared to play along with Obama while hoping that a delay will not prove fatal to their country’s security.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/24/iran-obama-common-goal-nuclear-israel-attack/

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