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The Spectacle Blog
Earlier today Phil Klein argued at the Washington Examiner that President Obama may be leaving Israel “little choice but to strike Iran, and soon” — because Obama won’t get specific and lay out the kind of redlines that the Israelis want to hear, they can’t trust him to pull the trigger on airstrikes, and if the Israelis can’t trust the US, they can’t afford to wait and will have to act within months or even weeks. The consequences could be dire, but, from the Israeli perspective, not as dire as a nuclear Islamic Republic.
But at a speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee tonight, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — strongly criticizing Obama’s policies toward Iran — took the rhetorical step that Obama hasn’t:
[T]onight I am prepared to propose… a policy which has the clarity and the specificity that the situation demands. And that policy is this: if Iran, at any time, begins to enrich uranium to weapons grade levels, or decides to go forward with a weapons program, then the United States will use overwhelming force to end that program.
In my judgment, there is broad bipartisan support for the administration’s stated goal with respect to Iran, and a strong declaratory policy like this can be expected to have the support of strong majorities of both parties in Congress, and thus the solid support of the American people.
All that’s been lacking until now is a clear, declaratory policy. And if the administration is reluctant for some reason to articulate it, then Congress will attempt to do it for him.
So tonight I make the following commitment in support of the policy I have proposed: if at any time the intelligence community presents the Congress with an assessment that Iran has begun to enrich uranium to weapons grade levels, or has taken a decision to develop a nuclear weapon - consistent with protecting classified sources and methods - I will consult with the President and joint congressional leadership and introduce before the Senate an authorization for the use of military force.
The message here is that, even if the Israelis are wary of Obama, they should trust Congress to force him to take military action if becomes necessary.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke later in the evening (after some nearly content-free platitudes from Speaker Nancy Pelosi), and the subtext was awfully bellicose; Netanyahu spoke at length about why a nuclear Iran is unacceptable and why Israel retains the right to act to defend itself. He may very well have been laying the groundwork for military action soon, and preemptively rebutting critics of such a move. But if Israel doesn’t bomb Iran this year, McConnell may deserve a lot of the credit.
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More Blog Posts by John Tabin
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/03/05/the-israel-iran-war-of-2012-av
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Christopher C| 3.5.12 @ 11:59PM
So what is Senator McConnell suggesting? That Congress declare war to force the Commander in Chief to launch attacks? Hmm. Isn't the Senate majority Democratic Party at the moment?
Bob| 3.6.12 @ 3:26AM
Apparently McConnell believes he'll have enough support from Senate Democrats and Republicans to make this statement.
Jack in Wi.| 3.6.12 @ 1:02AM
An attack on Iran is insanity. Obama will not do it, no matter how hard the Israeli lobby pushes. He wants to win re-election. There is no way a warmonger will be elected President in this country anymore. Gas is already at 5 dollars a gal in California. I was just there and that is what I paid. It will at least double if we attack Iran. Our military and intelligence communities have repeatedly said that Iran is not building nuclear weapons. They are in virtual revolt against all the lies the Israeli's and their propagandists are spreading. They are sick to death of fighting wars based on lies and nonsense.
Bob| 3.6.12 @ 3:28AM
Stick your head in the sand. I hope it helps you in the rough times ahead.
Pecos Pete| 3.6.12 @ 7:18AM
Jack: You wrote, "Gas is already at 5 dollars a gal in California. I was just there and that is what I paid. It will at least double if we attack Iran."
Agreed. And if King O is reelected the price of a gallon of gasoline will continue to increase rapidly.
As for price increases in general, we will all also enjoy the coming rapid increase in our costs for electricity, food and other necessities. With King O in office, regardless of any attack, or not, on Iran we are in for a cycle of hyper inflation.
RJ| 3.6.12 @ 1:22AM
Congress can declare war, only the President can go to war. The nation is war-weary and I don't see Obama initiating military action, although he may be forced to join a war "already in progress" if one erupts. Unfortunately, I don't see the Iranians giving up their objective to become a nuclear power. They believe it is in their best interests to have it and I doubt a divided foreign world will change their minds. I fear will we have some very tough times in the near future with Barry at the helm.
Sean| 3.6.12 @ 1:24AM
News is coming out that Israel and Saudi Arabia are behind the violence in Syria. The Syrian rebels and outsiders there are looking to kill the Shiites in that country and kick out the Christians by terrorizing them. Insane John McCain is calling for the USA to bomb Syria.
Now we have the foreigners and traitors in AIPAC trying to push the USA into war with Iran.
Bob| 3.6.12 @ 3:23AM
Hmm, Congress declaring war instead of the President. What a novel concept.
Clint| 3.6.12 @ 6:26AM
" The Region: Israel isn't about to hit Iran: Get used to it!
Does Iran have such deliverable weapons now? No. If Israel attacks Iran now does that mean Iran would never get nuclear weapons? No, it would merely postpone that outcome for at most a year or two. If Israel attacks Iranian nuclear installations would that ensure future peace between the two countries? Would it make it less likely that the Tehran regime uses such weapons to strike at Israel in future? No.
On the contrary, it would have the exact opposite effect. It would ensure direct warfare between the two countries and make Iran’s use of nuclear weapons against Israel 100 percent probable. If Israel attacks Iran would it have backing from anyone else in the world? No, in fact the United States strongly opposes such an operation. Launching such an attack would ensure a level of international isolation for Israel far higher than what exists today.
Would such an attack by Israel be likely to succeed even in doing maximum damage to Iranian facilities? No, a great deal could go wrong. Planes could get lost or crash or have to turn back. Planes arriving over the targets could miss, or accidentally drop their bombs on civilians, or simply not do much damage. In military operations – especially against multiple hardened targets at the planes’ maximum range – a lot can go wrong.
So given all of these factors why should Israel possibly attack Iran? It is an absurd idea."
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/C.....?id=255651
Jeremiah Smirking| 3.6.12 @ 7:52AM
Oooooooooooooh, Mitch McConnell talking tough. There's not a scintilla of a possibility that Obama would pay any attention to what the Senate, or House for that matter, would recommend about Iran. Obama does what Obama (or Michelle or Valerie or Frank Davis Marshall-from-his-diddled-nightmares) tells him to do.
RayH| 3.6.12 @ 11:16AM
Just how in the blistering h*ll does McConnell think he is going to enforce such a promise?
Not only is he in the minority, he has proven time and again the he is a political coward who won't take any action that might cause him to be mentioned unfavorably in the NYT editorial page.
And even if McConnell wasn't a gutless weasel why would Netanyahu believe him? Netanyahu knows how little power and influence the minority party has.
One half of one third and all that, dontcha ya know.
nutz2u2| 3.6.12 @ 12:14PM
McConnell believes the citizens of this nation follow the lead of the politicians in Washington, D.C. It's supposed to be the other way around, Senator.
where is israel | 3.10.12 @ 2:42PM
Some Americans seem to have gone back to the pre-World War 2 viewpoint that the US is isolated from the rest of the world and should tend to its own needs. Pearl Harbor changed that, but it seems a lot of folks have forgotten the lessons of that tragedy. No country is isolated these days. What goes on in the Middle East is a concern to every country in the world. It is wise to support the only democratic country in the Middle East.