Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, April 25, 2012
War Looks Like a Big Win for Obama and Diplomacy in the Iran/Israel Conflict
Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 8:37 AM
BBC:
The head of the Israeli military has said he does not think Iran will develop nuclear weapons.Chief of Staff Lt Gen Benny Gantz made the statement in an interview with the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.
He said Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had not yet made the final decision whether to build a nuclear bomb.
...Gen Gantz says this pressure is beginning to bear fruit.
He added that Iran "is going step by step to the place where it will be able to decide whether to manufacture a nuclear bomb. It hasn't yet decided to go the extra mile".
And speaking of the supreme leader he continued: "I don't think he will want to go the extra mile. I think the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people."
But these views appear to put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This certainly looks like a major setback for Netanyahu's fanatical militarism. It looks like only he and a few other politicians badly want this war. The US is out of it because it's war-weary; Iran is not making a great enemy because it's in the middle of a huge, internal struggle for power; and now the Israeli military is expressing a lack of interest in this enemy that leading Israeli politicians paint as the greatest threat that ever was and will be.
The chain of questions raised by the report: Will this relax the tension between the powers? If so, will gas prices go down? If so, will this help the US economy? If so, will this mean Obama is reelected?
1
Anything that makes Iran seem less threatening will help Obama. When the American people feel that sinister old men from half way around the world are trying to kill them, they tend to vote Republican.
2
Well if they cant get their war, they can always call for early elections. I'm sure they wont have a problem using US based weapons to kill hundreds of unarmed civilians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_…
4
Thank god the media war frenzy failed. Remember those supposed bombings by Iranian agents on motorscooters? No information on them. No pictures, no names. So fucking fake...ah I mean staged.
5
Gas prices have nothing to do with this - rising gas prices are due to rising competition for the product as China and India start buying in. That's not going to change.
6
Of course Iran will not develop an Atomic bomb, Israel will kill all their scientists and then bomb the facilities for making plutonium or what ever.
7
Good Morning Charles,
Obviously, if there is no attack on Iranian nuclear facilities before the Nov. general election, it will benefit ALL parties not just Obama. Clearly, I don't want war no matter who it benefits. But, if it comes to pass that no action is taken regarding Iran by the Israelis before the election or after then it will have been a victory of diplomacy first. Naturally, the Obama Administration will extract whatever benefits (credit) it can before the election. But, that's not surprising at all. Any adminstration would do the same.
Obviously, if there is no attack on Iranian nuclear facilities before the Nov. general election, it will benefit ALL parties not just Obama. Clearly, I don't want war no matter who it benefits. But, if it comes to pass that no action is taken regarding Iran by the Israelis before the election or after then it will have been a victory of diplomacy first. Naturally, the Obama Administration will extract whatever benefits (credit) it can before the election. But, that's not surprising at all. Any adminstration would do the same.
9
Oil prices will fall on this news (because of the reduced probability of a major supply disruption), which is good for Obama's re-election prospects. This really is the only way a US President can lower oil prices.
10
Iran wants to sell their oil for non-US currency and they continue to put out feelers to this end. Also, if we can't put a pipeline through Afghanistan, the only way to get the untapped oil/natural gas reserves from the Caspian Sea to a port for transport is through Iran or Russia. We're not gonna fuck with the Russians, so Iran is the only other option.
On 12/21/12, someone will detonate a nuclear bomb at the site we call Armageddon (it's a place, not an event; in Israel). I swear to God, it's gonna happen...self-fulling prophecy...
Oil/Money = Power
On 12/21/12, someone will detonate a nuclear bomb at the site we call Armageddon (it's a place, not an event; in Israel). I swear to God, it's gonna happen...self-fulling prophecy...
Oil/Money = Power
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