Obama Is Being Forced to Do What Bush Could Not in 2007

Five years ago, on November 13, 2007, I was following Prime Minister Erdogan’s trip to Washington. The George W. Bush period was coming to an end, and the primaries that would determine the presidential candidates were beginning. In lobbyist meetings, corridors of diplomacy and in capital circles sensitive to the global economy, whispers of an “intervention in Iran” began to circulate. Either the United States was going to strike Iranian nuclear sites, or Israel would carry out the same operation, allegedly in spite of the United States. The operation was either going to be carried out in April or May, or when the new president was determined in the fall.

Of course, in official statements, no one played it up. A “military intervention” was spoken of as a remote possibility. I spoke about the seriousness of the situation with the Chancellor of Turkish Studies at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Bulent Aliriza. A review of what he said five years ago: We must take seriously the discussions of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, the decision by Congress to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, and the phrase, “We can use military force.” Let’s remember the words said before the Iraq war. They said, “we have some concrete information,” and that “Iran is very close to a nuclear weapon.”

The U.S. administration says that they are trying to solve this diplomatically, but they said the same thing before the invasion of Iraq. There is a rumor that Bush said, “even if it is my last days as president, I want to remove the Iranian threat because the president after me will not be able to.”* He was thinking of carrying this out with long range bombers, which would have targeted places carrying out nuclear work and the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard.

When asked if it was a bigger mistake for America to attack Iran than Iraq, Bulent Aliriza answered, “of course…the American public has seen what a mistake the invasion of Iraq was, but even still the danger of an attack on Iran is very serious. There is a battle within Washington. Cheney asserts that, ‘We need to take military precautions,’ while Rice responds by saying, ‘We need to face the Iranian threat with a strong embargo and the help of European Nations.,’ and further emphasizes ‘Cheney’s indisputable effect on Bush.’”*

Five years later we are at a similar place. Last week on the program, “Voice of America,” which describes the current pulse of America, Bulent Aliriza said, “heading towards an election, Obama doesn’t want to have an operation, nor does he want Israel to do it. But I have the impression that it is going that way in Washington.”*

It appears that the civil war in Washington is continuing. The war lobby will again make inquiries before the election. They want to break the resistance of those who see the interests of the U.S. as being in a regional peace coalition. On one side, President Obama and Secretary of Defense Panetta are being asked questions so insistently that they are forced into the response: “an operation if required.” On the other side, although Iran gave a green light for the Parchin military facility, which they did not open to the International Atomic Energy Agency, news has arrived that “according to Western diplomats, Iran could be performing cover up operations in the military facility before the inspectors come.”*

It is being suggested to Obama that in return for “overlooking Israel’s operation,” he would have the opportunity to react to Israel as a show and be seen as the “American President who works for peace,” which, before an election, could be helpful.

Today there is a strong feeling of déjà vu. In fact Turkey, compared to 2007, is in a position where it can more seriously affect the decisions of the U.S. administration. For example, Secretary of State Clinton said, “in reference to Syria, we will take steps according to Turkey’s demeanor.”* The map from Tunisia to Iran was drawn and reconstructed 100 years ago without consent from the Ottomans. But today, Turkey has the opportunity and responsibility to play an active role in the process of this geographic change. This responsibility is also true for Iran. The burden of an economic danger comes from the possibility of an Iranian crisis.

*Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.