Wright Controversy Affects The Polls
Personal And Economic Recovery
Rev. Wright Launches Own 24-Hr. Channel; All Wright, All The Time, Preacher Promises
Horse Race Or An Honest Dialogue On Race Relations In America?
Cooling? Wait Until Next Year
Two Weeks of Trivia
Wright's Tune Has a Familiar Ring
The Hillary Democrats
Happy Mother's Day
Did Israel Drive Out The Arabs 60 Years Ago?
The Real Meaning of Mother's Day
It's Over
Recession, Recession, Where's The Recession?
End The Mistreatment of Race Horses
Playing Nice
Playing Performance Politics
An Indictment of Our Army’s Competence
Take That, Big Oil!
Presidential Pariah
Harper's Index
A Perfect Calm For John McCain
What John McCain Told Me, And What It Says About How Far He’s Fallen
America: A Moral Leader?
Should We Impoverish The Persian Gulf?
Nobody Loves You Like Mama Does
Apology Denied
In Visit To Israel, Bush Can Prevent A War With Iran
Too Late To The Duck Hunt
Sore Dems Want Out of Proportion Primaries
Vote For Justice
Breeding Sorrow
U.S. Must Stay In Iraq Till Day Is Done And Victory Won
Barack Obama's Bitter Half
Hillary And The Golden Handshake
Why Won't Hillary Adopt The Huckabee Option?
New Orleans Advances -- Slowly
Mrs. And Mr. President
Petronomics 101
Obama: Flawed or Fantastic?
Pursuing The Elusive White Voter
What Works: Freedom Project Instills Lofty Dreams In Black Students
Michael Moore, Frank Rich, Jeremiah Wright And John Hagee
The Caniddate And The Pastor
Mother's Day -- Don't Take Her For Granted
The Other Obama
Congressional Districts Deny Democracy
Hillary’s Role: Exit Stage Left
Gas-Tax Holiday A Loser
Battle of The Hawks
There's No Equal Footing In Sex With The Boss
Could This Be 1924 All Over Again?
Taking Out The Junk -- Interview With Steven Milloy
Who’s Influential?
It's Islamic Jihad, Not Extremism, Uncle Sam
Letter To African-Americans
Yankee Fan Go Home
Playing Out The String



Kondracke180.jpg
In Visit To Israel, Bush Can Prevent A War
With Iran
Morton Kondracke 5/8/2008
Digg This Story!
Del.icio.us Reddit StumbleUpon Yahoo! MyWeb Technorati Google Bookmarks Furl Ma.gnolia Newsvine Bloglines Rojo Facebook
When President Bush visits Israel next week, he should offer to bring that ally fully into the U.S. missile defense network -- a step that might forestall an Israeli attack on Iran this year.

Two of the most strategically minded members of Congress I know, Reps. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Jane Harman, D-Calif., have enlisted 63 colleagues to urge the move as Bush prepares to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding.

Specifically, the bipartisan group is calling on Bush to give Israel the advanced X-band radar system that would enable Israel to knock down Iranian missiles early in flight.

"It would be an appropriate birthday gift," Harman told me in an interview, "and would help ensure that Israel survives to celebrate its 120th."

Equally important in the short run, Kirk said, "it would lower everyone's temperature around Iran's nuclear and missile programs" and reduce the likelihood of an Israeli attack on Iran -- or a joint attack with the United States -- that would could have devastating worldwide repercussions.

Middle East experts I've talked to say the chances are 50-50 that Israel will try to destroy Iran's nuclear installations -- or ask that the United States join it in doing so.

The
attack would come this year, these experts say, because Israel fears that a new U.S. president, especially a Democrat, would engage in drawn-out diplomacy with Iran, whose regime would use the time to continue developing nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.

Separate from the nuclear issue, several Mideast experts I trust -- moderates, not super-hawks -- also think that the chances of a U.S.-Iran war are greater if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., gets elected than Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., or John McCain, R-Ariz., because Iran may judge him a "weak" president on the model of Jimmy Carter, "test" him more aggressively and miscalculate his resolve.

Possible Iranian "tests" include inspiring a Shiite militia takeover of the Iraqi government, attacks designed to humiliate the United States as its troops withdraw, an attempt by Iran-aided Hezbollah to topple the government of Lebanon or joint Hezbollah-Hamas attacks on Israel.

On the nuclear front, the logic for an Israeli attack on Iran is this: Israel regards Iran's nuclear and missile programs as a threat to its existence, especially because Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has explicitly declared intent to "annihilate" the "Zionist regime."
Add Feed to ZapTXT Add Feed to Bloglines Add Feed to Technorati Add Feed to LibWorm! Add Feed to My Yahoo! Add Feed to Google Add Feed to Newsgator Add Feed to Rojo Add Feed to Windows Live Add Feed to My MSN
Bush and Iran COLOUR
By Paresh Nath  - National Herald, India  * Posted 03/15/2008
Post to MySpace!
Comment
Email
Bush and Iran COLOUR
© Copyright 2008   Paresh Nath  - All Rights Reserved.
Make A Comment
We appreciate your feedback. Post a comment using the form below.
Your Name (required)
Your Comments
Type the characters you see in the image: