Tuesday 18 September 2012

'Kneel Before Me!'

Via FLC


"I know what America is, America is a thing you can move very easily,
move it in the right direction. They won't get in the way." BN

Ignatius, wants Obama to help Netanyahu climb down from a tree ...(sorry, rhetoric): Read: Give him what he wants! (You sneaky, sneaky white boy!)
"... Netanyahu should understand that no country can allow another to impose the conditions under which it will go to war. The Israeli leader wants a tripwire that would trigger military action. But presidents don’t turn over that power of war and peace, even to their best friends. Indeed, it’s precisely because Obama means what he says about going to war that he wants maximum flexibility in how and when he takes action.The Israeli leader also ought to realize by now that Obama doesn’t like to be jammed. That’s the most interesting revelation of Bob Woodward’s new book, “The Price of Politics.” The book describes how Obama was prepared to risk a financial default last year in preference to giving congressional Republicans a chance to create another debt-ceiling crisis during the 2012 election year. “He could not give the Republicans that kind of leverage. . . . It was blackmail,” explains Woodward.
In the White House view, Netanyahu is trying to do the same thing that House Speaker John Boehner attempted, and this isn’t likely to work. And officials are surely peeved that Netanyahu is making such comments (and pushing for a personal meeting) in the middle of the U.S. election campaign.
The danger of these months of semi-public Israeli debate about going to war is that, rather than making Tehran tremble, they may lead Iranian leaders to doubt Israeli resolve. Netanyahu is creating a situation where he almost has to attack, to save face. Obama should help the Israeli leader to climb down from his unwise rhetoric.
Yes, the United States has already drawn a red line. But (aah) it’s worth restating, publicly, perhaps in a very visible forum such as the U.N. General Assembly this month. The United States needs to take control of the deadly confrontation with Iran, rather than being cajoled and buffeted by its smaller, weaker ally. Obama needs to own the policy of prevention he has declared."

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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