They really want their war. They've been spoiled by our willingness to wage their wars for them. Up until now, Israel has been able to destroy its enemies with minimal personal risk. Now it seems they may have to go it alone if they decide to start another unnecessary war to increase the size of their empire in the Middle East.
Israeli officials have recognized that a U.S. air strike on Iranian nuclear sites is increasingly unlikely in the waning days of the Bush Administration.
Good, it would be disgusting to leave President Obama with another stupid war.
So dismayed were the Israelis by the latest U.S. moves, one military source told TIME, that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wrote to Bush complaining that Israel should have been forewarned about the White House's abrupt change of course toward Iran.
Why should we tell them anything? They seem to think they run our country.
A top former officer from Mossad (the Israeli equivalent of the CIA) told TIME that Israel is mindful that an air strike on Iran would jolt the U.S. presidential election — probably rebounding badly on Republican contender Senator John McCain. Sources say that Israel sees a narrow "window of opportunity" for military action opening up between November and the swearing-in of the new American President next January. "No Israel leader wants to be blamed for destroying the Republican chances," says the former Mossad officer.
Yes, heaven forbid they hurt their buddies in the Republican Party. They know the only way they'll get their war in Iran without having to lift a finger and actually pay for it is if McCain wins. Instead they'll attack after the election, handing the new President a huge mess which he'll have to address. Perhaps the best course of action if this were to occur is to just step back, make it clear we had nothing to do with it, and let the bully get bitch slapped by Iran.
Whatever the real prospects for military action, in the game of rhetorical brinksmanship, Israel has matched every hotheaded statement from Ahmadinejad with threats of its own. The Israeli press often compares Iran's bellicose, Holocaust-denying leader to Hitler.
Please, they compare everyone they disagree with to Hitler. They compared Saddam Hussein to Hitler. They probably compare Obama to Hitler. You'd think people who actually suffered under Hitler would remember a bit about what he did. Let me know when Ahmadinejad starts killing millions of people, then perhaps you could compare him to Hitler. At least Hussein killed some people, still not nearly as many as Hitler. The ironic thing is that they get bent out of shape when anyone else makes light of Hitler and yet they do it themselves by comparing every tinpot dictator to him.
The danger remains in this high-stakes game of brinksmanship that either Israel or Iran could push the other too far. But the Bush Administration's sudden overture toward Iran, and its moves toward engaging it diplomatically in search of a solution to the nuclear impasse, make it more likely that Israel will follow Washington's lead rather than striking out on its own.
Never underestimate the overwhelming desire among the Israeli government, and the Bush Administration, for war. If they decide to forgo it it's not because they don't want war, it's because they decided they might actually pay a price for once.
|