This Option Is Under the Table

With only 10 months remaining until the American presidential election, American president Barack Obama has been very active, delivering one speech after another.

These speeches – whether they are in a restaurant in Manhattan, in the form of an interview with Time Magazine or statements before Congress – have a common refrain: "The Islamic Republic of Iran."

Last Tuesday during a speech in Congress, which was considered the last annual address of the first term of his presidency, Obama was forced to bring up the topic of Iran. After that, he claimed that Iran has become more isolated than ever and that America is determined to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He said, "I will take no options off the table."

Of course, 45 days ago, Barack Obama addressed the topic of Iran in a meeting with the Zionist regime’s [Israeli] defense minister, Ehud Barak, which was held at the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor, Maryland, and Obama said, "No option can be taken off the table."

The Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, recently used the phrase "all options are on the table," a term that is apparently full-blooded American. This phrase has, of course, provoked a reaction from former analysts and directors of the CIA. Ray McGovern, Elizabeth Murray and John E. McLaughlin were among the CIA analysts and directors who explicitly stated that this phrase is based on errant calculations and that its consequences have not been evaluated.

It is interesting that even McGovern and Murray, in an article that was published in the online journal Consortium News, wrote to Obama, “Your repeated use of the bromide that ‘everything is on the table,’ however, gives us pause and makes us wonder whether you and your advisers fully recognize the implications if hostilities with Iran spin out of control. You have the power to stop the madness… If your advisers have persuaded you that hostilities with Iran would bring benefit to Israel, they are badly mistaken. In our view, war with Iran is just as likely in the longer term to bring the destruction of Israel, as well as vast areas of Iran — not even to mention the disastrous consequences for the world economy, of which you must be aware.”

The two former CIA officials offered a strategic recommendation to Obama: "An accident or provocation could spiral out of control quickly." Ironically, media sources have repeatedly warned Obama over the last few months that the assessments of Martin Dempsey, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are unreliable. They have referred Obama to the words of his predecessor, Michael Mullen, who warned that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz.

But another facet of the phrase “all options are on the table,” is the subject of negotiation as opposed to threats, sanctions and assassination, which Obama has mentioned in his speeches.

In his recent speech in Congress, he points to the peaceful resolution of Iran's nuclear case and, of course, the nature of such remarks are better understood in his interview with Fareed Zakaria in Time Magazine when he says, “It is fair to say that this isn’t an easy problem, and anybody who claims otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about… Having said that, our goal consistently has been to combine pressure with an opportunity for them to make good decisions and to mobilize the international community to maximize that pressure.” Based upon this, when Obama claims he will use all options in confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran, the extent to which he means these claims must be seen, especially when everything from threats, attacks, assassination and sanctions to negotiations and so-called peaceful measures are on the table. This article is trying to lay out an assessment of Obama’s words under the current conditions and to analyze the main purpose of the collection of his speeches.

Therefore, it is clear what Americans have in mind. It is also clear why they talk about negotiation and peaceful methods after maximizing pressure and threats and approving unilateral sanctions against Iran – and why they have continued to parrot the phrase “all the options are on the table” over the past few months. Their actions and their tactics against the Islamic Republic and the emergence of sabotages and conspiracies must be reviewed and analyzed with a comprehensive view to the horizon.