Obama Unbound.................by Dan Friedman

[There seems to be an interesting dynamic playing out between our president and the Israeli prime minister. On paper, at least, it seems the president is moving a little closer to Netanyahu on the Iranian matter. It could be a ploy, or it could be consistent with my theory that the only chance Obama will attack Iran is if he’s convinced Israel is ready, willing and able to act alone. And it’s also consistent with the corollary: The Obama we’ve known to date is a very different man than the Obama who would wake up on the morning of November 7th if he is given a second term. df]

The Times of Israel, 3/14/2012

Invoking Begin and Osirak, PM hints at Iran strike even if US objects

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night gave one of his broadest indications to date of a readiness to strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, even without US support, and vowed to uproot the Hamas regime from Gaza.

Speaking in the Knesset, Netanyahu noted that Israel had “never placed its fate in the hands of others — not even the best of friends,” and said it would not do so now.

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White House, 3/14/2012

Obama: Window for Diplomatic Solution to Iran Nuclear Standoff Is "Shrinking"

After a meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, President Obama said Wednesday: "In the past there has been a tendency for Iran in these negotiations with the P5-plus-1 to delay, to stall, to do a lot of talking but not actually move the ball forward. I think they should understand that because the international community has applied so many sanctions, because we have employed so many of the options that are available to us to persuade Iran to take a different course, that the window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking."

"I am determined not simply to contain Iran that is in possession of a nuclear weapon; I am determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon....It would trigger a nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the world. It would raise nonproliferation issues that would carry significant risks to our national security interests. It would embolden terrorists in the region who might believe that they could act with more impunity if they were operating under the protection of Iran." "So this is not an issue that is simply in one country's interests or two countries' interests. This is an issue that is important to the entire international community."

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