Israel, Iran and Obama

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has produced another alarming report on Iran's nuclear programs, though it hasn't released it publicly, only to governments that would also rather not disclose more details of Iran's progress toward becoming a nuclear theocracy. ... The mullahs understand that the only real challenge to their nuclear ambitions is likely to come from Israel. They've long concluded that the UN is no threat, as IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei has in practice become an apologist for Iran's program. They can also see that the West lacks the will to do anything, as the Obama adminstration continues to plead for Tehran to negotiate even as Iran holds show trials of opposition leaders and journalists for saying the recent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was fraudulent. The irony is that the weaker the West and UN appear, the more probable an Israeli attack becomes. ... Israelis can see the relentless progress Iran is making toward enriching uranium, building a plutonium-breeding facility and improving on its ballistic missiles--all the while violating UN sanctions without consequence. ... Israel also looks wearily on the Obama Administration's policy of diplomatic pleading with Iran, which comes after six years of failed diplomatic overtures by the European Union and Bush Administration", Editorial at the WSJ, 31 August 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574348533106427974.html.

"Events are fast pushing Israel toward a pre-emptive military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, probably by next spring. That strike could well fail. ... So why is the Obama administration doing everything it can to speed the war process along? ... All this only helps persuade Israel's skittish leadership that when President Obama calls a nuclear-armed Iran 'unacceptable,' he means it approximately in the same way a parent does when fecklessly repremanding his misbehaving teenager. ... It is certainly in America's supreme interest that Iran not acquire a genuine nuclear capability, whether of the actual or break-out variety", my emphasis, Bret Stephens at the WSJ, 15 September 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203917304574410672271269390.html.

Like the UN, Obama's policy with respect to Iran is a joke. Either we destroy Iran's nuclear facilities or Iran will have atomic weapons. It's that simple. Instead of destroying them, we dance in Iraq and Afghanistan. Go figure.

If Stephens is right, we should have destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities years ago. Using our planes in Saudi Arabia and having Saudi and Israeli pilots join in the action.