[W]hile Israel insists on its freedom of action, it realizes it would need America’s help. This means that the Obama administration holds the upper hand: it is in a position to stop Israel from igniting a catastrophic war in the Middle East simply by declaring publicly that it will not back Netanyahu if he orders an attack — or covertly provokes Iran into firing the first shot.
Americans who oppose war with Iran can best serve peace by demanding that Obama make such a declaration.
Read the full op-ed here.
Great post. I was caught by this line:
ReplyDeleteObama’s political problem is that it would be ill-advised, particularly in an election year, for an American president to be at odds with the Israeli government and its lobby here, which is pushing Congress to adopt the harshest measures against Iran’s economy.
Can you reply or email me where from/how you know this? I write on this issue but am fairly new and haven't seen mainstream news sources mention Israel's lobby so frankly. jershadi at reason dot com
The sources I use are Gareth Porter, Glenn Greenwald, Kate Gould of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, M. J. Rosenberg (who worked for AIPAC), and Max Blumenthal, among others. Google them or look for their writings at Antiwar.com. Rosenberg, for instance, reports that AIPAC, the lead lobbying group, has pushed for sanctions for a long time and is now pushing Congress to forbid Obama from having diplomatic contact with Iran.
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