{"id":5017,"date":"2012-03-02T01:31:56","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T06:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/?p=5017"},"modified":"2012-03-02T01:31:56","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T06:31:56","slug":"will-bibi-break-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/will-bibi-break-obama-5017","title":{"rendered":"Will Bibi Break Obama?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The prime minister of Israel is angry with Barack Obama and is coming here to force a hardening of U.S. policy toward Iran<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“Bibi” Netanyahu had his anger on display at a meeting in Israel with Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham.<\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

“The Israelis are unnerved,” said Graham. “They think the administration is sending the wrong signal, and so do I.”<\/p>\n

What has so enraged Netanyahu? The Obama policy of tightening sanctions on Iran<\/strong> while holding out the opportunity for Tehran to negotiate and provide guarantees that its nuclear program is not aimed at an atomic bomb.<\/p>\n

The U.S. intelligence community unanimously believes that Iran<\/strong> is some time away, perhaps years, from being able to produce a nuclear weapon and has not made the command decision to build one.<\/p>\n

Israel retorts that Iran<\/strong> is entering a “zone of immunity,” when Israel will lack the ability to attack and abort Iran<\/strong>‘s nuclear program, as new nuclear sites are being moved underground. Netanyahu’s government is also angry at what it sees as U.S. leaders’ distancing themselves from Israel.<\/p>\n

When that fifth Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated and Tehran accused America and Israel of complicity, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced the murder, leaving Israel as prime suspect.<\/p>\n

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta leaked to columnist David Ignatius that Israel might strike Iran<\/strong> in April, May or June, leaving no doubt as to who wants a war, while ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden openly disparages Israel’s capacity to cripple Iran<\/strong>‘s nuclear sites: “They only have the ability to make this worse.”<\/p>\n

Adm. William Fallon, who headed U.S. Central Command, has been categorical: “No one I am aware of thinks that there is a positive outcome from a military strike” on Iran<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs<\/strong> Gen. Martin Dempsey has called Iran<\/strong> a “rational actor” and told the Israelis that for them to attack Iran<\/strong> now would be “premature,” “destabilizing” and imprudent.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu said that Dempsey’s remarks “served Iran<\/strong>” and the general was “unwilling to aid Israel.”<\/p>\n

Like Panetta, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has said he does not believe that Iran<\/strong> has decided to build a bomb, while National Security Adviser Tom Donilon spent three days in Israel, reportedly arguing against an Israeli attack.<\/p>\n

“The Israelis are fuming over what they perceive as deliberate attempts by the Obama administration to undermine the deterrent effect of the Jewish state’s threat to use force against Iran<\/strong> by publicly questioning the timing and utility of such strikes.” So write Jay Solomon and Carol Lee of The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu is coming to Washington, the Journal writers add, to demand that Obama spell out the “red lines” Iran<\/strong> will not be allowed to cross without triggering a U.S. attack.<\/p>\n

What Netanyahu wants is a U.S. ultimatum to Iran<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

White House<\/strong> sources say that when Obama meets Netanyahu Tuesday, he will reject the prime minister’s demands.<\/p>\n

But the pressure to shorten the timetable for war is intense and growing.<\/p>\n

Obama will speak Sunday to the annual assembly of the Israeli lobby AIPAC. Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum<\/strong> and Mitt Romney, all more hawkish than the president, have also been invited to address the conclave.<\/p>\n

Three dozen senators have signed on to a resolution declaring it a U.S. “vital national interest” that Iran<\/strong> not possess even a “nuclear weapons capability.”<\/p>\n

S.R. 380 reads like a resolution crafted as a casus belli, a cause for war. For South Korea, Brazil and Japan all have a “nuclear weapons capability,” as all have the industrial proficiency and technical know-how to build an atomic bomb, should they chose to do so.<\/p>\n

The resolution demands that Iran<\/strong> halt all uranium production and end its ballistic missile program, and declares “unacceptable” any U.S. policy of containment of an Iran<\/strong> that is capable of building a bomb, even if Iran<\/strong> has decided not to build a bomb.<\/p>\n

Containment succeeded with a Soviet Empire with 10,000 nuclear weapons, but is apparently inadequate for dealing with an Iran<\/strong> that has no atom bombs, only the potential to build one.<\/p>\n

S.R. 380 points directly toward a U.S. war on Iran<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Who wants that war? Netanyahu, his government, and his allies in U.S. politics and the press, and in a Congress that gave him 29 standing ovations the last time he spoke there.<\/p>\n

Who does not want a war?<\/p>\n

The White House<\/strong>, the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs<\/strong>, the intelligence community, the antiwar left and Old Right, and millions of Americans who believe a U.S. war on Iran<\/strong> could ignite a sectarian and regional war that could prove catastrophic for the Middle East, the world economy and the United States of America. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/div>
Make America Think Again! - Share Pat's Columns...<\/div>
<\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/rect><\/rect><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

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 … <\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>
Make America Think Again! - Share Pat's Columns...<\/div>
<\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/rect><\/rect><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[72,36,124,107,39,61,31,33,139,289,559,131,679],"class_list":["post-5017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","tag-aipac","tag-barack-obama","tag-bibi-netanyahu","tag-cia","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-john-mccain","tag-leon-panetta","tag-lindsey-graham","tag-rick-santorum","tag-war","tag-white-house","infinite-scroll-item","no-featured-image-padding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"views":7197,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3hGdf-1iV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buchanan.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}