Obama says he would attack Iran
Obama says he would attack Iran
By ANNE GEARAN AP National Security Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says he doesn't want war but insists he would attack Iran if that was the only option left to stop that nation from getting a nuclear weapon.
"Loose talk of war" only plays into Iran's hands, Obama said Sunday. On Monday, he will try to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to slow quickening pressure among many in his hawkish government to attack Iran's disputed nuclear development sites. Obama is trying to avert an Israeli strike that could come this spring, and which the United States sees as dangerously premature.
The president is expected to tell Netanyahu in private at the White House that although the U.S. is committed to Israel's security it does not want to be dragged into another war. Obama is unlikely to spell out U.S. "red lines" that would trigger a military response, despite Israeli pressure to do so.
U.S. officials believe that while Tehran has the capability to build a nuclear weapon, it has not yet decided to do so. They want to give sanctions time to pressure Iran to give up any military nuclear ambitions. Israel says the threat is too great to wait and many officials there are advocating a pre-emptive strike.Obama did not directly call on Israel to stand down, and made a point of saying Israel should always have the right to defend itself as it sees fit.
That was the part of Obama's speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that Netanyahu said he liked best. Speaking to reporters in Canada ahead of his arrival in the U.S., Netanyahu made no reference to the sanctions and diplomacy Obama emphasized
Obama is unlikely to persuade Netanyahu that economic sanctions and diplomacy are enough to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and he is unlikely to win any new concessions from Netanyahu on peace talks, the issue that drew bad blood between the two men in previous meetings and led the Israeli leader to publicly scold Obama last year.
Netanyahu has not publicly backed a military strike, but his government spurned arguments from top U.S. national security leaders that a preemptive attack would fail."Now is not the time for bluster," Obama said. "Now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in."
Obama framed military force as a last resort, not the next option at a time when sanctions are squeezing Iran. He said just the talk of war has driven up the price of oil to the benefit of Iran.
Although Israel says it hasn't decided whether to strike, it has signaled readiness to do so within the next several months. The top U.S. military officer recently called a unilateral strike "imprudent," a mild catchall for the chain-reaction of oil price hikes, Iranian retaliation, terror strikes and a possible wider Mideast war that U.S. officials fear could flow from an Israeli strike.
Israel says a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence. It cites Iranian leaders' repeated calls for Israel's destruction, support for anti-Israel militant groups and its arsenal of ballistic missiles that are already capable of striking Israel. Israel also fears a nuclear Iran would touch off an atomic weapons race in a region hostile to Israel's existence.
Addressing the powerful pro-Israel lobby, Obama delivered messages to multiple political audiences: Israel, Iran, Jewish voters, a restless Congress, a wary international community and three Republican presidential contenders who will speak to the same group Tuesday.
At the core was his bullish assertion that the United States will never settle for containing a nuclear-armed Iran or fail to defend Israel.
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America has made its bed and slept with the Israeli’s and now they are going to be made to suffer. There is no doubt in my mind that Israel because of its supposedly fear of Iran will initiate a pre-emptive strike. I say supposedly fear because by attacking Iran they would be telling every Arab nation in the Middle East, we are in charge because we are backed by the USA. That to me is not a tiny blip on the map of the Middle East showing fear, because it is showing that they are still the aggressive terrorists that they have always been while waving the stars and stripes. Yes that’s right because of the American Presidents need to keep the American Jews happy, and pander to Israel. The Americans will have no choice but to back them up causing yet more carnage in the Middle East.
Now, President Obama has openly thrown his cards on the table, he has also contributed to this abysmal disrespect for other countries sovereignty. Once again the American Presidents are talking regime change and put themselves on a war footing. What rights as America or any other western nation got to interfere with the running of another nation 12,000 miles away. Answer….Damn all. If he is so concerned with nuclear security of the world he should be looking to North Korea, whoops another country he is pandering to.
If Obama said the remark as a threat to Iran he must have his brain in his ass, what he has done is shown intent and if he goes into Iran he will get his ass kicked as in Viet Nam, Afghanistan and Iraq. What is it with all American Presidents when there is elections close that they place their country and the rest of the world on a war footing. Well when Obama sends a lot more of his countries heroes to their death before reelection, I hope the hell he has the respect to go on his own.
I do not like the thought of Iran having nuclear power, but this is 2012 and underdeveloped countries are learning all the time. Are we going to war with each and every one of them because they develop weapons we don’t like? Iran is surrounded by nuclear states and I don’t think that they would attack Israel with that kind of weapon, just like the Americans, British and Russia during the cold war.
Be well IAN 2411
Obama says he would attack Iran
I think theres much more to this than we realize- and well likely never find out the whole truth. Ever seen the movie "Arlington Road"?
