The Israeli Vote
Robert Baer at NY Daily News on the potential for an October surprise, Bet on Israel Bombing Iran:
Are we going to have an October surprise, an attack on Iran by either the Bush administration or by Israel to stop the regime from becoming a nuclear power?
It could happen - and alter the dynamics of the presidential race in the blink of an eye - but only if Israel pulls the trigger. Don’t expect the United States to drop bombs anytime soon. The reason: Iran has us over a barrel.
…
Israel knows that international diplomacy against Iran up until now has been a farce. Iran called Bush’s bluff, ignored sanctions and continued its nuclear program with impunity. And if the Israelis needed another psychological kick in the pants, last week North Korea announced that it is back to building a bomb, likewise with impunity.
Finally, Israel has to calculate that American influence around the world is on the wane. Americans are tired of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And now, after the war in Georgia, Russia is opening up its flow of weapons to Iran.
Couple all of this with Israel’s suspicion that Iran is within only a few short years of having a nuclear bomb, and Israel knows time is not on its side. It is starting to believe that it has no choice but to change its fortunes with arms.
This much is certain. Whether the President is named Bush, McCain or Obama, he will either have to prepare for war in the Gulf or find a way to bring Iran back into the nation-state system. The day of reckoning is near.
I myself think a deal can be cut with Iran. During the last 30 years, Iran has gone from a terrorist, revolutionary power to far more rational, calculating regional hegemon. Its belligerence today has more to do with a weakened United States and Israel than with any plans to start World War III.
What Baer doesn’t do in this piece is discuss how it plays in the campaign or anything about the candidates positions to date. What he is doing is suggesting the United States … and presumeably the candidates … need to do more than bumble along.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:25 am on Monday, September 29, 2008
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