Israel » Patrick J. Buchanan

Bibi's Dilemma -- and Barack's

Apr 172012

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

“Bibi” Netanyahu was disgusted.

“My initial reaction is that Iran has gotten a freebie. It has got five weeks to continue enrichment without any limitation.”

The Israeli prime minister was referring to Saturday’s meeting in Istanbul of the P5-plus-1 — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany — with representatives from Iran.

Subject: Iran’s nuclear program. After a “constructive” meeting of one day, all agreed to meet again in Baghdad, May 23, and departed.

Is the GOP Becoming a War Party?

Mar 082012

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

Denouncing Republican “bluster” about war with Iran, President Obama went on the offensive Tuesday:

“Those who are … beating the drums of war should explain clearly to the American people what they think the costs and benefits would be.”

The president had in mind such remarks as those Newt Gingrich delivered to the Israeli lobby AIPAC that same day: “The red line is now … because the Iranians are deepening their commitment to nuclear weapons” — an assertion the Joint Chiefs and U.S. intelligence agencies say is blatantly false.

Will Bibi Break Obama?

Mar 022012

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

The prime minister of Israel is angry with Barack Obama and is coming here to force a hardening of U.S. policy toward Iran.

“Bibi” Netanyahu had his anger on display at a meeting in Israel with Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham.

McCain emerged saying he had never seen an Israeli prime minister “that unhappy.” “He was angry,” said McCain. “I’ve never seen U.S.-Israel relations at this point.”

Who Wants War With Iran?

Feb 072012

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

Appearing alongside CIA Director David Petraeus before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said of Iran:

“We don’t believe they’ve actually made the decision to go ahead with a nuclear weapon.”

Before the hearing, as James Fallows of The Atlantic reports, Clapper released his “Worldwide Threat Assessment.” It read, “We do not know … if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons.”

Who Wants War With Iran?

Jan 202012

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

On Sept. 21, 1976, as his car rounded Sheridan Circle on Embassy Row, former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier was assassinated by car bomb. Ronni Moffitt, a 25-year-old American women who worked with Letelier at the leftist Institute for Policy Studies, died with him.

Michael Townley, an ex-CIA asset in the hire of Chile’s intelligence agency, confessed to using anti-Castro Cubans to murder Letelier, in what was regarded as an act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

Our Innocents Abroad?

Jan 032012

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

Friday’s lead stories in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal dealt with what both viewed as a national affront and outrage.

Egyptian soldiers, said the Post, “stormed the offices” of three U.S. “democracy-building organizations … in a dramatic escalation of a crackdown by the military-led government that could imperil its relations with the United States.”

The organizations: Freedom House, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute.

Make Congress Vote on War on Iran

Dec 232011

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

Returning from Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta dropped some jolting news.

Asked by CBS’s Scott Pelley if Iran could have a nuclear weapon in 2012, Panetta replied: “It would probably be about a year before they could do it. Perhaps a little less. But one proviso, Scott, is that if they have a hidden facility somewhere in Iran that may be enriching fuel.”

Return of the War Party?

Nov 152011

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By Patrick J. Buchanan

Is a vote for the Republican Party in 2012 a vote for war?

Is a vote for Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich a vote for yet another unfunded war of choice, this time with a nation, Iran, three times as large and populous as Iraq?

Mitt says that if elected he will move carriers into the Persian Gulf and “prepare for war.” Newt is even more hawkish. America should continue “taking out” Iran’s nuclear scientists — i.e., assassinating them — but military action will probably be needed.