The Difference Between Iran and Syria for President Obama – Jeffrey Goldberg – The Atlantic
The Difference Between Iran and Syria for President Obama – Jeffrey Goldberg – The Atlantic.
Dec 13 2012, 10:20 AM ET 145
From a Goldblog reader:
I saw you on Meet the Press on Sunday, where you were very harsh about the Obama Administration’s policy on Syria. You definitely seem to think they haven’t done enough (I agree) to stop Assad from doing what he’s doing. On the other hand, I remember you saying over and over that you think Obama will deal with Iran’s nuclear issue, including the use of force if necessary. Doesn’t Syria show you that he’s going to appease Iran?
Well, no. What Syria shows me is that Obama isn’t doing enough in Syria. The president is seized by the issue of Iran because it is developing, he believes, a nuclear capacity. He knows, for reasons readers of Goldblog understand already, what a nuclear Iran would mean for the Middle East, for America’s allies in the Middle East, and for his campaign against nuclear proliferation. He takes Iran more seriously as a threat to American national security interests than he does Syria. One issue doesn’t necessarily inform the other. I, of course, think that earlier, bolder intervention in the Syrian conflict (more support earlier for the rebels, for instance) would not have only been wise from a humanitarian perspective; America has an Iran-related national security interest in breaking apart the Iran-Syria axis. But the Administration did not move in this direction. So be it. But I still don’t know why inaction on Syria would axiomatically translate into inaction on Iran.
Here’s an alternative explanation for Obama’s hesitancy in Syria — perhaps he understands that he may eventually have to strike Iran, and he doesn’t want the U.S. entangled unncessarily in Syria. I’ve always suspected that one of the reasons he was so eager to depart Iraq, and is so eager to leave Afghanistan, is that he believes Iran to be the paramount issue, and so wanted to clear the decks. Better not to have America burdened and exposed in these places if he’s going to make a move against the Iranian nuclear program.
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WarSclerotic 
December 14, 2012 at 10:57 AM
Both the reader and Mr. Goldberg still don’t get it.
The reason why Obama acts the way he does has nothing to do with Iran.
The explanation is rather simple. Obama doesn’t care about human rights or about Assad killing his people. All he cares for is that the old secular tyrants are replaced by Muslim Brotherhood tyrants.
Proof of this is that Egypt’s Mursi is already becoming a bigger tyrant then Mubarak ever was, assuming powers that even Mubarak could have only dreamt of. The abuse of power in Egypt and the violence against the copts don’t seem to bother him. On the contrary. He rewards Egypt with billions of dollars, military hardware like new F16-aircraft and the elevation of Mursi’s and the Brotherhood’s international stature.
In the same way, he does not care about the atrocites commited by the jihadis and terrorists who are fighting Assad.
He really does not care about Assad killing his people. It is only used as a justification to topple the Assad regime and replace it by an islamist regime.
On one point the reader is right. Obama is appeasing Iran.
The reason is, that Obama doesn’t care about American interests and the national security either.
December 14, 2012 at 4:15 PM
Reblogged this on servehiminthewaiting and commented:
Hmmmm. Sounds good but I’m not sure I buy it.
December 15, 2012 at 1:05 PM
Two years on – who was right on Egyptian crisis?
The Egyptian are voting in the referendum today. Most probably the Muslim Brotherhood will win. We will know next week. So who was right on Egypt? Israeli or American analysts? Almost two years ago, I wrote this
US and Israeli Analysts Split Over the Egyptian Crisis
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/02/us_and_israeli_analysts_split.html
It is becoming obvious that the Israelis were right and the Americans were wrong. But who in the US will ever admit to this? Who among the politicians and among the journalists will be taken to account for their idiotic policies and idiotic reporting? No one. Who is there left, when the Obama administration supports the Muslim Brotherhood and the media supports the administration?
Iran will turn into an even bigger catastrophe for everyone if Israel trusts those politicians who support the Muslim Brotherhood and journalists who failed to report on that support. Jeffrey Goldberg thinks that Obama takes Iran more seriously as a threat to American national security interests than he does Syria. On the contrary, all the evidence shows that Obama does not understand the magnitude of the Iranian threat. Unlike will Egypt, Israel cannot afford to wait and demonstrate that Obama has screwed up on Iran
The Muslim Brotherhood. Is this what Americans stand for?
http://www.madisdead.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/the-muslim-brotherhood-is-this-what.html
December 15, 2012 at 1:17 PM
Two years on – who was right on Egyptian crisis? (typo corrected)
The Egyptian are voting in the referendum today. Most probably the Muslim Brotherhood will win. We will know next week. So who was right on Egypt? Israeli or American analysts? Almost two years ago, I wrote this
US and Israeli Analysts Split Over the Egyptian Crisis
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/02/us_and_israeli_analysts_split.html
It is becoming obvious that the Israelis were right and the Americans were wrong. But who in the US will ever admit to this? Who among the politicians and among the journalists will be taken to account for their idiotic policies and idiotic reporting? No one. Who is there left, when the Obama administration supports the Muslim Brotherhood and the media supports the administration?
Iran will turn into an even bigger catastrophe for everyone if Israel trusts those politicians who support the Muslim Brotherhood and journalists who failed to report on that support. Jeffrey Goldberg thinks that Obama takes Iran more seriously as a threat to American national security interests than he does Syria. On the contrary, all the evidence shows that Obama does not understand the magnitude of the Iranian threat. Unlike the Egyptian crisis, Israel cannot afford to wait and demonstrate that Obama has screwed up on Iran
The Muslim Brotherhood. Is this what Americans stand for?
http://www.madisdead.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/the-muslim-brotherhood-is-this-what.html