Everyone who knows about our problems with Iran knows that newly re-elected President Ahmadinejad does not rule the country. He is but the puppet of the 12 man Guardian Council and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. One would suppose that this august group listened to Obama's speech in Cairo. One would also suppose they rejected his outreach outright! While many may still be in awe of our new President, as is the media, our adversaries are not. This weekend's election seems to me to be a resounding rejection of all things western, especially the United States.It has forced Obama to turn the other cheek only to get it slapped by our questionable ally, Israel. He must be stinging this morning as he tries to convince the AMA his health plan is a good one. Well, he does have two cheeks left.
In an effort to spin some positive news it is reported that Netanyahu's statement that he'd support a Palestinian state is a positive step. It's spin. Netanyahu put such harsh conditions on the possibility of it happening, it is as remote as a woman getting hold of the one for the family television! For starters he will not halt the expansion of the illegal settlements, wants to forbid the Palestinians a military and control of their air space. Right.
If you wonder why the Palestinians are so bitter, study the map above to see how the Israeli's have grabbed off territory since the original Partition in 1947.
None of this has anything to do with the Holocaust, though everything is couched in that excuse. This is about power and territory. Netanyahu is betting the Obama administration will roll over and play dead or get so mired in the muck it will be as ineffectual as past administrations.
I expect he is correct. There's not much we can do about the situation in Iran other than wait and watch. There isn't much we can do in Israel but wait and watch. We don't seem to have the stomach for meaningful sanctions nor the cutting off of funds. In our case war is not an option. We'd not fight the Israelis under any circumstance and we haven't the manpower available to go full bore against Iran.
That leaves open the worst possible scenario. They'll go against one another. That would be a holocaust that would make the one the Jew's suffered pale in comparison! Something akin to Hades in the Holy Land.
3 comments:
I can't help putting myself into the shoes of the Iranian people. How frustrating and frightening it must be for them.
I hope they prevail but I doubt the Guardian Council will reverse their position. One can hope this will be the beginning of a meaningful movement though the cost may be high.
It's just a real mess, isn't it? And we have our nose right in the middle of it. Don't we have enough problems of our own?
The answer to Israel is to cut our funds to them altogether. They have ooodles of money. They sure don't need ours.
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