U.S. wants Iran to know it can be attacked

Aluf Benn in this morning's Haaretz - U.S. wants Iran to know it can be attacked - Haaretz - Israel News - says that Biden's thrice-repeated statement to George Stephanopoulos that, as far as the US is concerned, Israel has the prerogative to bomb Iran was designed to hold Iran's feet to the fire more than anything else. Perhaps. A good friend thinks that perhaps this is the US's way to signal Israel and other US "friends" that you indeed have the prerogative, but then you need to accept the consequences of your actions and not expect the US to bail you out. Again, perhaps - but I have to believe that if Israel were to launch airstrikes against Iran, and Iran were to retaliate, virtually every member of Congress would be demanding that the US military be sent to "rescue" our "little" friend and ally.

What frightens me most in this piece is Benn's assertion that it was John Bolton's recent WaPo op-ed (which I blogged about a few days ago, here) that brought the entire scenario back to the center ring . . . and that Bolton has now become the chief foreign-policy voice of the Republican party. That, my friends, is a frightening, and very sobering, assertion. Bolton has no patience for diplomacy, or for a world in which the US calls all the shots, all the time.

For a more sensible approach to Iran, once again, Rami Khouri is on-target.