According to wired.com  Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen told a forum at Columbia University: “Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing. Attacking them would also create the same kind of outcome…In an area that’s so unstable right now, we just don’t need more of that.”
For an admiral to use such language, there could be a few reasons, of which I could speculate at least two possibilities:

1. It could be that the speaker didn’t want to give to the Iranians any hint about the US intentions
2. Maybe the speaker wanted to signal to the Iranians that we do not intend to attack them, as we accept their point of view.

Both responses could be a diversion maneuver. But I prefer leaving the speculation to the Iranians.

On March 31 2010, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discloses that the U.S. forces had discovered a large shipment of weapons from Iran to Afghanistan.

Slowly I too start to understand the motive of the Israelis, why they are reluctant to accept the strategy of our administration.  After all, they are the ones who would have to fight their neighbor if our advice would prove to be wrong. Until now they never asked us to send any US forces to help them defend their cause.  No country would like to be left with indefensible borders. I am confident that the Israelis have explained this reason to their American partners. After all, our policy is not a final one, as it changes from president to president .

In his New York Times article, former US ambassador to Israel Mr. Indyk, addresses the “root “ of political crisis between Washington and Jerusalem, saying that Obama views the Iranian nuclear program, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as two sides of same coin,  while Netanyahu believes construction disputes can only boost Iran. In my view, this is a question of opinion. Since when, an ally has no right to his opinion?  I understand that we are the strongest one among Israel’s friends.  I understand too, that Israel has to accept our way of thinking, but until now, in my understanding, the new administration didn’t even understand the real root of the problem facing Israel and indirectly the United States. The new administration didn’t promote a spirit of trust toward the Israelis. (See President Obama’s speech in Cairo and the one he gave during his visit to Turkey as well as many other speeches, which point to this view).

No need for Israel to confront anyone or to argue about Jerusalem. Slowly, slowly, our administration is getting the message and the reason.

Mr. President, with all respect due to you, may I tell you that the Nobel Prize you received does not bring you much honor, as no one understands the reason for which it was awarded to you. When the famous French writer Albert Camus received the Nobel Prize, I wrote to him that the Nobel Prize would categorize him and could limit his actions and put a cap to his intellect and spirit.

Your first priority should have been resolving the economic problem and letting free enterprise take its course. Job creation does not belong to government but to business people and existing corporations.

Vice President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu: “This is starting to get dangerous for us. What you’re doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace”.  In my view the problem of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Iran, which are interconnected, as they all have common borders or common interests, which means, a common ideology could be resolved if the instigators (Iran) could be neutralized  The hostilities and terror cannot take shape without weapons, ammunition, training and money. You want to resolve the entire Middle East problem in one stroke. First, we have to solve the problem of Iran, which costs the United States soldiers and resources on many fronts. We have to deny Iran the flow of strategic goods, economical resources and money and not by fighting our best ally.  Because of Iran’s interference in our war, with weapons, intelligence and resources, our war, be it in Iraq, or in Afghanistan lasts more time and costs us human lives and money. If until now we cannot define those factors, then we lose our moral authority towards Israel.

The Middle East problem is an ideological, economical and political one, against the Western ideology. It cannot be resolved by fighting our friends and allies, but by fighting the real enemy, either with negotiations or with power. Germany and France fought for many years. Britain and France fought for one hundred years. It is only after World War II and with the Marshall Plan that Europe became peaceful and united. What our government can do is helping the Arabs to minimize poverty, stop terror and create the conditions in order that the conflict would not spread. If the Jews could help their brother refugees settle in various countries and in Israel, the Arabs with their oil could have helped the refugees called “Palestinians” to settle everywhere and eliminate poverty in the Arab World and in Africa. We have to recognize that in the Middle East and in the Arab World they are not suffering of shortage of land, but the same cannot be said about Israel. Let’s not forget that the Jewish people have had more than their fair share of suffering, but they have contributed more than any nation to the wellbeing of humanity. During the last sixty years, the Arabs should have recognized that Israel is a positive nation and everyone could have benefited from their intelligence and their capability to solve vital problems of the Middle East, instead of throwing their resources into accumulating weapons in order to destroy Israel.

Source: FCNL   http://action.fcnl.org/list/iraq/19Mar10/

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