A few weeks back, I wrote an article pertaining to the threat of an Iranian nuclear program. Attempts to cripple the success of their program, which most world intelligences believe to be aimed at attaining nuclear weapons, have failed. If red lines are not drawn to deter the Iranian nuclear program, one of the most sinister governments in the world will possess arms that can destroy hundreds of millions of human lives worldwide. I also wrote that, although under no circumstances should Iran have these weapons, a Cold War is much more likely between the West and Iran than a nuclear one. But that does not mean that red lines should not be drawn.
In terms of American politics, I am a supporter of Barack Obama. I am not anti-Republican, and I do not believe that all Republican policies are misguided. However, I do believe that the Tea Party movement, which now maintains a stronghold on the conservative movement, is dangerous in many ways and is inherently contradictory to the idea of the American Dream for the American middle class. This column is not about American politics however, and the reason for my digression is to propagate the idea that Obama and his relationship with Israel, while certainly not always warm and amiable, is not on the brink of deterioration.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, has spoken out many times to the global community, with his efforts especially directed towards the Obama administration, to establish thresholds that the Iranian nuclear development process cannot cross under any circumstances. President Obama’s responses to Netanyahu’s objections have been nebulous at best, and this has seemingly caused a major rift in the relationship between these two democratic states. The argument I would like to make is that what Obama likes to do more than anything else is leave others to guess what he is thinking or planning on doing. Just because he will not explicitly state specific red lines that Iran cannot cross, or will not dole out mandates regarding their program, does not mean that his administration’s intelligence is not currently working behind the scenes to squander Iran’s program if they do cross a non-publicized threshold.
Let us not forget that no one outside of his administration and the soldiers involved in the mission had any clue that we were on the verge of finding and taking out Osama Bin Laden. Whether we like it or not, this Obama guy likes to be secretive.
While Obama and Netanyahu are surely not best friends, Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, are as buddy-buddy as they come. In terms of Israeli and world politics, Netanyahu and Obama often find themselves together with their backs against the wall, and they incessantly seek to substantiate each other’s controversial remarks. Until recently, many signs within the media pointed to a growing rift between Israel and the United States. Obama and the Netanyahu/Barak tandem seemed to be on very different wavelengths. But statements made by Obama to the Jerusalem Post the other day are helping to assuage fears of a potential schism in the U.S.- Israeli partnership.
Regarding this coalition, Obama stated, “Do not forget that the United States is Israel’s main ally. We have intimate relationships in the intelligence field, and the U.S. is Israel’s most important supporter in the security field. The foundation of this relationship is a long-standing friendship and shared values between Israel and the American people.”
Israel knows that if it were to attack Iran without multilateral support from the U.S. and others in the global community, it would allow itself to be exceedingly vulnerable to a vociferous attack from a plethora of potent neighboring countries. There shouldn’t be doubt that President Obama is completely on board with the full safety and security of the Land of Israel. Playing the waiting game is very hard, and also very unfair in these ominous times. But with over a year left until Iran will be able to successfully detonate the aforementioned armaments, we have to remain faithful to the belief that although they will not reveal their plans to the public, the Obama administration has something substantial brewing in the White House Situation Room regarding the Iranian threat.
Zac Pestine is a senior majoring in philosophy and communications. Please send all letters and feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
