Dennis Ross: If diplomacy fails, be sure the US will attack Iran
Israel Hayom | Dennis Ross: If diplomacy fails, be sure the US will attack Iran.
Former Obama adviser Dennis Ross says the U.S. president is not bluffing on the Iran nuclear issue • Speaking at a symposium in Jerusalem, Ross says U.S. policy on Iran will remain consistent, despite the coming changing of the guard at the Pentagon.
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Former Obama adviser Dennis Ross says the U.S. will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails.
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Photo credit: AP
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If diplomacy fails to stop Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. will use military force, Dennis Ross, a former top adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a symposium at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, Ross said that people should believe Obama’s declarations that he will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.
“When the administration began and [Obama] made it very clear that he was prepared to pursue engagement with the Iranians, it was always a means, it was never an end. It was a means to see if you could affect and change Iran’s behavior on the nuclear issue by dealing with them, but it was a means to try to do that. It was also a means recognizing that this was a way to build pressure on Iran,” Ross said.
“If we reached out and the Iranians weren’t responsive it would be far easier to mobilize the world to put real pressure on the Iranians. But you had to ask the question; what happens if we don’t succeed?,” he said. “If we do everything we can but it doesn’t succeed, are we prepared to live with an Iran that has a capability and then contain it afterwards, or do we believe that the acquisition of that capability is so profoundly threatening to our interests that we really can’t live with it and we have to prevent it?”
“If diplomacy fails, and I’m asked to give my advice, it is very important that having stated prevention as an objective that we act on it,” he added.
“When President Obama says ‘I don’t bluff’, I think he means what he says. If diplomacy doesn’t work, we have to be prepared to use force, and I think we will be.”
In the 1990s, Ross was appointed President Bill Clinton’s Middle East envoy and was involved in brokering peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. More recently, Ross served as an adviser to Obama on Middle East affairs, before leaving the post in 2011.
At the symposium Wednesday, Ross argued that history had showed that second-term presidents act much as they did in their first terms, suggesting that Obama will not adopt a tougher stance toward Israel over the next four years, contrary to the pessimistic assessments of some Israeli media commentators.
Ross said that U.S.-Israel security cooperation, which was already good under previous presidential administrations, got even better during Obama’s first term.
Ross also said the U.S. would remain consistent in its stance that Iran could not be permitted to get nuclear weapons, even with personnel changes at places like the Pentagon, where Chuck Hagel is expected to replace Leon Panetta as defense secretary in the near future.
Ross was set to address a conference of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on Thursday morning.
WarSclerotic 
December 20, 2012 at 7:01 PM
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
December 20, 2012 at 11:38 PM
Why would we expect Obama who supports the Muslim Brotherhood and has been appeaseing Iran for years to suddenly do something out of character? And here is what Martin Sherman thinks of Dennis Ross:
Dennis Ross, dummy or dhimmi?
http://www.madisdead.blogspot.co.il/2012/06/dennis-ross-dummy-or-dhimmi.html
December 21, 2012 at 2:11 PM
thats simple to answer obama is the president,the house of Representatives runs America with congress not obama
December 23, 2012 at 5:30 AM
I will tell you why, Jimmy will need a redirect for the eyes at home while he makes a grab for our firearms.
December 21, 2012 at 2:53 AM
The USA under Obama = a joke…and the world knows it.
December 21, 2012 at 4:07 AM
There are basically two kind of people.
Those who despite supporting obama are sincirely concerned about Iran getting nukes and lying to themselves that obama will use force if necessery.
And there are those who do not care about Iran gettings´nukes and knowing that obama will do nothing they ly to the rest.
I don’t know which group Mr. Ross belongs to and frankly, it doesn’t matter.to me since it doesn’t matter what obozo’s apologists say but only what obozo himself does, which is pretty little..
December 21, 2012 at 8:25 AM
Iran doesnt need to be attacked. Iran will attack itself. And regarding those nuclear facilities? They are pretty dangerous places, especially when the Chernobyl engineers are doing the maintenance. Strange accidents might happen.
December 21, 2012 at 4:05 PM
All we need is another red line. That’ll fix everything.
December 21, 2012 at 9:07 PM
Hehe, strong one.
December 21, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Scuds blast big Syrian rebel push for al-Safira chemical arms store.
http://www.debka.com/article/22627/Scuds-blast-big-Syrian-rebel-push-for-al-Safira-chemical-arms-store
December 21, 2012 at 4:31 PM
Also the Lebanon Star reports:
NATO detects more Scud-type missile launches in Syria
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Dec-21/199400-nato-detected-new-launches-of-scud-type-missiles-in-syria-source.ashx#axzz2Fh25WIuL
December 22, 2012 at 12:23 PM
Utter nonsense and childish wishful thinking by Mr. Ross. The US will never attack Iran only because it refuses to stop enriching uranium.
Mr. Obama has clearly said the US won’t allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, and since Iran is not doing that, there won’t be any US attack.
December 22, 2012 at 1:10 PM
There is no need to attack Iran, we all can stay calm and cool. Iran is already at war with all sort of Al Qaeda goodies and we wont interfere with that wild party, dont we? The war in Syria will cost Iran dearly, much more than they are knowing right now.
December 22, 2012 at 1:36 PM
I agree Iran is going to have a tough time in Syria. But I do not understand how that in any way affects their nuclear program.
December 22, 2012 at 2:18 PM
renbe the usa will definitely attack iran unless iran totally capitulates,there was doubt about this a 6 months ago bu irans actions in Syria Sudan Egypt and Bulgaria ect have changed that,its overwhelming now from all sides of congress and the Representatives even the doves have turned to hawks,Nato is 100% percent behind attacking iran the uk is moving military assets into place,including our hypersonic autonomous drones which are operable for 20 hours out of 24,the plans have ben updated to include all irans military and state assets,if i lived there i would stock up on body bags as iran may need upto 60 million of them,and all of this is ow common knowledge in our community,the debate now is how far back were going to set iran ie stone age or Jurassic age or paleolithic age
December 22, 2012 at 1:53 PM
Israel will not initiate any open activity against Iran while the iranians are deeper and deeper involved in the syrian mud. At the end of the process, Iran will find itself at war with the sunnis jihadists, The War That Never Ends. It will affect Iran in every way. However, this process might be to slow and some weird accidents still might happen in between. If in the past we thought that a military action is the best thing to do and its inevitable, today we dont think that such an action, in such a time and conditions, will be good for Israel.
December 22, 2012 at 3:27 PM
Debka is reporting that Russian forces take Syrian chemical, biological weapons under control
December 22, 2012 at 5:49 PM
Yes i have from a verbal source that the Russians have ground forces supporting Assad,,i think its time for Nato intervention and arming the rebels properly