The Red Line
Published in al-Ahram
(Egypt) on 24 March 2012
by Maha an-Nahas (link to original)
(Egypt) on 24 March 2012
by Maha an-Nahas (link to original)
Translated from
by Magda Gilpin.
Edited by Gillian Palmer.
During the previous election campaign, Barack Obama made many promises, which won him the presidency of the United States.
We all remember his famous lecture given at Cairo University, not long after he took office, in which he promised to improve America’s image in the world, especially the Islamic world; to bring peace to the Middle East; to put an end to the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan; to first use diplomacy as a method of creating new world order; to extend a friendly hand to Iran and North Korea; and to fight world poverty and other problems.
Where are we today as far as these promises are concerned? America, with all its strength, supports Israel’s objection to Iran having nuclear weapons because it prioritizes Israel’s security in its strategy. This is what the Israeli political analyst Nahum Barnea confirmed when he wrote that Israel will not dare to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities without acquiring support from the Obama administration. Meanwhile, American writer Thomas Friedman asks in his article in the New York Times if Obama is the biggest friend of Israel's out of all presidents in history, or if he is only one of the biggest.
The reason for that is Obama’s strong support of Israel and promotion of a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities while assuring that this decision hasn’t been taken due not only to Israel’s security, but also American national security. To allow Iran to have nuclear weapons — as the writer sees it — will encourage other countries in the region to aspire for acquiring the same weapons; in effect, this will lead to a nuclear Middle East. At the same time, other analysts see that the military option is not the solution for dealing with nuclear Iran. It is not unlikely that Iran will resort to using missiles against Israeli towns as a response to an assault. Likewise, terrorist cells would focus on American and Israeli targets all over the world, or Arab oil infrastructure would try to use oil prices to destroy the world economy.
As it is the case with all American presidents, each time the date of the presidential election approaches, they rush to flirt with the Zionist lobby. They will grant it total support, even if the price is a nuclear war and destruction of the whole world.
We all remember his famous lecture given at Cairo University, not long after he took office, in which he promised to improve America’s image in the world, especially the Islamic world; to bring peace to the Middle East; to put an end to the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan; to first use diplomacy as a method of creating new world order; to extend a friendly hand to Iran and North Korea; and to fight world poverty and other problems.
Where are we today as far as these promises are concerned? America, with all its strength, supports Israel’s objection to Iran having nuclear weapons because it prioritizes Israel’s security in its strategy. This is what the Israeli political analyst Nahum Barnea confirmed when he wrote that Israel will not dare to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities without acquiring support from the Obama administration. Meanwhile, American writer Thomas Friedman asks in his article in the New York Times if Obama is the biggest friend of Israel's out of all presidents in history, or if he is only one of the biggest.
The reason for that is Obama’s strong support of Israel and promotion of a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities while assuring that this decision hasn’t been taken due not only to Israel’s security, but also American national security. To allow Iran to have nuclear weapons — as the writer sees it — will encourage other countries in the region to aspire for acquiring the same weapons; in effect, this will lead to a nuclear Middle East. At the same time, other analysts see that the military option is not the solution for dealing with nuclear Iran. It is not unlikely that Iran will resort to using missiles against Israeli towns as a response to an assault. Likewise, terrorist cells would focus on American and Israeli targets all over the world, or Arab oil infrastructure would try to use oil prices to destroy the world economy.
As it is the case with all American presidents, each time the date of the presidential election approaches, they rush to flirt with the Zionist lobby. They will grant it total support, even if the price is a nuclear war and destruction of the whole world.