When General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters yesterday that Israel and the United States are on “different clocks” regarding Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, he was doing more than stating what has already become obvious. Dempsey’s purpose in saying so publicly was more evidence that Washington is determined to ward off pressure from Israel to abandon its complacent attitude toward the Iranian threat. But it is also just one more instance in which the Obama administration has sought to create more daylight between U.S. and Israeli positions on security matters. While the president and his advisors think they are trying to teach the Netanyahu government a lesson, the main effect of this public disagreement is to encourage the Iranians to think that they don’t have to worry that much about either Israel or the United States.
Washington is frustrated because the Israelis won’t shut up about the consequences of a Western policy that has allowed the Iranians to keep refining uranium and getting closer to their nuclear goal. Dead-end diplomacy and loosely enforced sanctions have merely played into Tehran’s hands and the Israelis have been vocal about the fact that they are not going to simply stand by and wait patiently until Iran accumulates so much nuclear material stored in hardened underground bunkers that it will be too late to do anything about it. Defense Minister Ehud Barak is said to believe that moment will pass within a few months rather than the years the Americans say it will take. But rather than work with the Israelis and give them some concrete assurance that the president meant it when he said he would not allow Iran to go nuclear, the main reaction from the White House has been pique at Netanyahu’s chutzpah and public signals indicating the Israelis are on their own. This strengthens the security of neither the U.S. nor Israel. All it does is illustrate Mitt Romney’s point about the foolishness of the administration’s Middle East policy.
As the Times of Israel reports, General Dempsey spoke about the issue while on a flight to Afghanistan and acknowledged that Israelis view the issue differently from the Americans:
“They are living with an existential concern that we are not living with,” he said, according to AFP.
Dempsey added that he and Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz spoke on a bi-weekly basis to coordinate intelligence, despite gaps in understanding how close Iran is to the point of no return.
“We compare intelligence, we discuss regional implications. And we’ve admitted to each other that our clocks are turning at different rates,” he said.
This is a critical problem for which the Israelis are being blamed in the world press since they are viewed as troublemakers or provocateurs because they refuse to allow the Obama administration to go on pretending that diplomacy and sanctions have a chance to change the minds of the ayatollahs. But the problem with this view of the situation is that no one in Washington is prepared to seriously argue that the current Western policy has a chance of success. Washington is continuing to act as if the failed P5+1 talks can be revived or that sanctions will miraculously bring Tehran to its knees. But the only purpose of this pretense is to stall the discussion about Iran until after the November election when presumably the president will have the “flexibility” to propose an even more generous deal to the Islamist regime.
But even if we were to assume the president is sincere about his desire to stop Iran, his decision to allow administration officials to publicly express their disagreement with Israel is undermining any chance that diplomacy could ever succeed. So long as the Iranians are convinced the Americans are focused more on squelching Israeli self-defense than on halting their nuclear program, they are the ones who will show patience. They don’t think Obama is serious when he pledges that he will neither accept nor seek to merely contain a nuclear Iran. Nor do they think he will ever use force against them.
As in its past gaffes on the Israel-Palestinian diplomatic process, the daylight that Obama has opened between Washington and Jerusalem is merely serving to sink any hope that the goals he claims to support can be accomplished. The more American officials talk about Israel and the U.S. having “different clocks,” the more certain it is that the Iranian leadership thinks they can run out the clock on Western diplomacy and achieve their nuclear ambition unscathed.
Different clocks? So, the view of the administration is that Israel sees itself with an existential threat but because the United States is not threatened with extermination, well then, our clocks are not in synch. n nIsrael is trying to survive and defend herself from an outlaw nation that has repeatedly told the world that she should be destroyed. Iran is, according to all responsible observers, developing nuclear weapons. Iran has the means of delivery as she has shown time and again with ballistic missile tests. n nIt's as if one is in the hospital, gasping for medication, and the pharmacists tells the patient I'll fill your prescription tomorrow, maybe. I have a different clock and, oh by the way, I'm not sick, yet. n nIran wants not only to destroy Israel, but to dominant the Middle East, threaten Europe, and if allowed, openly challenge the United States. That our military leadership does not see this as a priority, and thinks that time is not running out, is to show just how much the administration detests Israel and how that feeling has blinded them to the reality the world faces today. n nIran is not just an Israeli problem, it's a world problem. Time is only on the side of the Iranians.
"Washington is frustrated because the Israelis won’t shut up about the consequences" n nIsrael needs to shut up and attack or shut up and not attack,but just shut up,because,we are not going to "first strike" Iran,and that includes Romney.
I actually agree that Dempsey speaks for the bureaucratic military leadership which does not feel existentially threatened, and, if it comes to that, would not feel that a miscalculation that ended with a vaporized Israel had irreparably harmed American interests. However, honor of aliles aside, young man, hopefully you appreciate that the "shut up" line of argument does guarantee an Israeli attack in the long run and that attack may or may not be restricted to conventional armaments.
I chas v'sholom the worst were to occur and our ally were vaporized, I have every confidence that rexford would be among those arguing that the US should not make the situation worse by retaliating, or arguing that Iran was justified, and accusing Jooz and their allies of once again trying to push the US into war.
Israel should shut up at this point and just do what she is going to do. The element of surprise is long gone, if it ever had any importance, which I doubt, given that its is long gone. n nThe 'world' was long ago put on notice. n nThe bottom line is if Israel succeeds, she will be stronger and more independent than ever, and will fully come into her own as something more than a regional power. Deterrence reestablished. The USA will eventually congratulate her. n nThis of course, assumes she will neutralize Hezbollah once and for all at the same time. n nIf she fails, she will be a pariah, just as she is now, only more so, as the USA will distance itself. There will be more that just daylight between them. There will be sun and moon and stars. And casualties. n nTough call. n nIran seems to be goading Israel to attack. What does that mean? n nThanks to W. and Obama, and Israeli weakness -or rather unwillingness to displease the USA- the project is said to be exponentially more difficult now compared to even a few years prior. n nThe 2008 Iranian elections might have been an ideal time. Oh well. n nEhud Barack has been a disaster for Israel, beginning with the Lebanon disengagement. n nOne has to wonder about his strategic judgement. n n n n
Well, Israel is not, from an Israeli standpoint chattering. They make statements. Hezbollah is a vexing problem because it has to be neutralized and that may entail a larger military commitment than an Iranian attack itself. Ehud has a poor track history too. The very lack of American support forces Israel to confront existential choices and that kicks up the conceivable types of armaments employed in these attacks. If Israel ever pulls the trigger. n nBut they aren't there yet either.
Unless Israel is deliberately trying to keep Iran and IRan's clients and allies guessing about what it will do and when.
For Israel to take action against Iran, they most probably need a better sense of what's going to happen after than they have. It isn't just trying to guess Iran's response and, first, how successful Israel will be (during their attack on the nuclear facilities and stockpiles) in hindering Iran's ability to respond, and, second, guessing whether or not the United States will help stave off such a response — but, I think, it is also Israel trying not to help re-elect an anti-Israeli American President, knowing Obama's unlikely to help Israel after the election, win or lose, so the best bet of American help is to attack now, helping Obama get re-elected, or waiting and hope Romney wins, knowing that if he doesn't they are on their own.
Do you think the Republicans want another war? After the Iraq war and its growing reputation as a disaster, Republicans rather not get themselves into another controversial war where they will ultimately been seen as the irresponsible "war party" – which only appeals to their fringe base and not the voters they need to win the elections. Romney will be VERY hesitant to deal with Iran during his first term, knowing it will only make things more difficult during re-election.
Iran has not even decided to militarize its nuclear program, nor is it threatening to use them on Israel. A "responsible observer" would realize the emphasis Iran puts on how it will only defend itself. While crazy Israelis won't shut up about how its "obviously to destroy jews" … calm down. Go hide in your bomb shelter. You people are traumatized. Pathetic bunch.