A variety of links to articles/interviews/speechs on current issues that may be of interest.

The military has already tested the consequences of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and it found troublesome results for not only Israel and Iran, but the US as well. And the upshot of all of this, the important part, is that this wider regional war, which could last several years and cost hundreds of billions – would only slow the development of a (for now theoretical) Iranian nuclear program by three years

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.

In the President’s press conference, he focused mostly on Iran, to the exclusion of even a single question about Eric Holder’s asserted right to kill American citizens without a trial. I think the President runs a risk asserting that he didn’t have a “containment policy” on Iran. But his focus has been on the near-term consequences of Israel acting along to strike at Iranian facilities. He also took aim at the amped-up rhetoric at home pushing the world into war; in his presser, he had some pretty strong words about that

Undercutting Israeli saber-rattling on the topic, Western leaders agreed today to new negotiations with Iran on their nuclear program. And Iran possibly agreed to new inspections. That may give diplomacy a chance for now, but the President’s speech to AIPAC, in which he ruled out a “containment policy,” may be more ominous in the long run.

For those thinking that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would say one thing in public and another in private while in the White House, you can probably put that to rest. For reports are leaking out about that White House meeting, and the best that can be said about it is that Netanyahu hasn’t put the bombers into the sky just yet.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.

A day after speaking at the AIPAC conference, President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. The telegraphed message from the President for this meeting was to tell Netanyahu that he has a friend in the United States, that sanctions should be given time to work, and that Israel should not seek a unilateral strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. And Netanyahu basically said “I’ll do what I want.”