WarSclerotic

Obama understands the threat of Iran – The Tulane Hullabaloo : Views.

Friday, March 9, 2012 12:04 pm

Brandon Faske

President Barack Obama’s relationship and actions toward Israel week have been the topic of heated discussion among the Jewish-American community.

He took the podium at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference this weekend seeking to assuage voters, many of whom were Jewish, that his actions indicate he has Israel’s back. Truth be told, Obama has not been an undisputed champion for Israel during his more than three years in office. He has demanded preconditions of the Israelis and not of the Palestinians, has made unproductive statements in his Cairo speech and has publicly clashed with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While Obama’s relationship with Israel has been tenuous at times, all else will be forgotten if he is able to stop Iran from going nuclear.

Obama often cites increased security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and the United States under his administration to show that he is a friend of Israel. The two nations share many interests in the fight against global terrorism. As Obama spoke to AIPAC this past Sunday, he focused almost exclusively on the nuclear aspirations of Iran, what Israel considers the greatest global terror threat of our time. Obama made it clear that his policy is not of containment, but one of preventing Iran from acquiring a weapon. While many Obama critics believe his rhetoric on Iran is not strong enough, Obama argues that it is dangerous to loosely threaten war. Right now, sanctions are having a crippling effect on the demagogic regime in Iran, and Obama deserves credit for his bold executive order to sanction the Central Bank of Iran.

While some of the president’s past actions on Israel add a level of doubt to the remarks he makes, it is hard to imagine Obama does not understand the ramifications of a nuclear Iran. Surely, as the GOP candidates attack Obama over gas prices, he knows gas prices would rise dramatically if Iran built a weapon and closed the Strait of Hormuz, and he understands the implications of a nuclear arms race in the world’s most volatile region. Obama also knows that Iran supports terror organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah while supporting the Syrian government’s systematic slaughter of its citizens. He saw Iran try to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States in a restaurant full of Americans on United States soil. The writing is on the wall: The regime is testing intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the latest reports indicate they are trying to hide more evidence of their program. Iran’s intentions are clear, and the consequences of inaction are even clearer.

In the last year alone, Obama’s toward the Israeli Prime Minister has evolved markedly. Just 10 months ago, the two were at odds, but on Monday, they sat side by side with an air of mutual respect. They agree that a nuclear-armed Iran is a grave threat to international security. After Netanyahu and Obama met at the White House on Monday, it became clear that the two sides have different opinions about how to handle Iran but seek the same end.

Passionate, dedicated supporters of Israel should understand the complex landscape. Obama will do what is necessary to stop Iran; he knows the stakes. He may not use the most powerful terms and may not forthrightly threaten a war, but at the end of the day, it seems Netanyahu is convinced the United States will come to Israel’s support to stop Iran. It is Israel’s sovereign right to decide whether to attack Iran, and it is the United States’ right to decide whether to support it. In this situation, the two states share the same interests, and now, the public can only hope that they reach the most efficient resolution to 2012’s most pressing concern.

Brandon Faske is a sophomore in the Newcomb-Tulane College. He can be reached for comment at bfaske@tulane.edu.

This entry was posted on March 9, 2012 at 8:47 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.