Obama Failure on Iran Nukes Leaves Israel in Control

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Obama Failure on Iran Nukes Leaves Israel in Control

By Ralph Reed
Newsmax.com
November 8, 2011

The headlines are stark indeed. “Israel Readies a Pre-Emptive Strike.” The Israeli prime minister is said to be working to persuade reluctant members of his coalition Cabinet to go along with such a military option against Islamist Iran.

The Huffington Post’s British edition reports Netanyahu saying: “One of those regional powers is Iran, which is continuing its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran would constitute a grave threat to the Middle East and the entire world, and of course it is a direct and grave threat on us.”

One day later, Defense Minister Ehud Barak struck a similar tone. "A situation could be created in the Middle East in which Israel must defend its vital interests in an independent fashion, without necessarily having to rely on other forces, regional or otherwise,” he said.

Ehud Barak could qualify as an Israeli “dove,” but he is first and foremost a soldier and an Israeli patriot. It’s not so surprising that the hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu should be talking of a military strike against Iran. When Ehud Barak joins this conversation, you know it’s serious.

This is a most serious situation. No one knows what might happen if Israel strikes the Iranian nuclear weapons research stations. What is clear is that the efforts of the Obama administration to restrain Iran over the past three years have been an utter failure.

After extending an “open hand instead of a clenched fist” to the Iranian mullahs, President Barack Obama saw his proffered olive branch stomped into the dust. He even sent Persian New Year greetings to the Iranian people and their dictatorial rulers.

When Iranians rose up in the streets following fraudulent elections in June 2009, the Obama administration weakly claimed it did not want to “interfere” with an internal matter for Iran. The fact that Iran is daily interfering with internal affairs all over the Middle East seemed not to faze this administration.

The Obama administration invested precious time and resources in getting toothless sanctions voted by the U.N. Russia and China made sure these sanctions didn’t bite. And Tehran has the active support of Venezuela’s anti-American Hugo Chavez in laundering its petro dollars. . . . [More]
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