President Barrack Obama has said the United States is convinced that Iran is not in any way near developing a nuclear bomb and has also asked that on-going diplomatic efforts be allowed to force Iran to abandon the quest.
The President made this veiled warning, directed at the political and military leadership of Israel, on Sunday in Washington DC in an NBC network interview shortly before the super bowl match between the New York Giants and The New England Patriots of Boston. The Giants prevailed by 21-17 goal margins to lift the “World” Cup.
Israel has been pushing strongly for a military action against Iran, but has neither a blanket support from the Obama administration, nor that of American Jews, who see no wisdom at opening another war theatre in the gulf. There are doubts, according to experts, if the Israeli intelligence community itself is on-board this political agenda of the Netanyahu administration.
Mr. Obama tried to put a good face for Israel in the interview saying he had assurances from the Israeli too that they were not preparing to attack Iran.
The Americans have been lately irritated by Israeli hysteria regarding the Iranian bomb and last week, the Washington Post reported that Israel was inching towards an attack on Iran in a couple of months but that the case of an Iranian bomb remains largely unproven at the current moment.
Former National Security Adviser during President Jimmy Carter’s administration, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was not so muted in his own response to the Israeli leadership, which he characterized as having “an irresponsible attitude about the consequences of their action” for America.
Mr. Brzezinski lashed at the Netanyahu government in Israel describing it as “an extreme right-wing government with a one-sided notion of what security is all about.” He was speaking in an interview on MSNC Chris Matthew’s show on Friday.
Mr. Brzezinski who is currently a professor of International Relations at the John Hopkins University scoffed at the Israeli leadership which he said since1994 always advertised alleged targets the Iranians were going to attack “next year,” suggesting they were merely fomenting war feelings for purely political calculations.
How could Iran want to perish its people and its 3000 year civilization when it knows that a retaliatory response from Israel and the United States will wipe off its existence from the face of the world, he asked, arguing that diplomatic engagement was the best way to engage with the Iranian problem, that he insisted will affect the United States more negatively than Israel.
Mr. Brzezinski called on Mr. Obama and the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to speak forthrightly against war with Iran and caution a bellicose Israel to sheath its weapon.
Last Friday at the State department, Mark Toner, deputy spokesman for the department said:
“We believe there’s still time and space to pursue diplomacy and to allow the sanctions that are in place – and again, these are unprecedented sanctions that I think everyone agrees are having a chilling effect on the Iranian economy… So we still believe that there’s space here for diplomacy to work, our two-track approach of diplomacy and pressure to work.”
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