A senior Obama administration official recently went on the record with journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in calling Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “chickenshit.” A second senior official also went on the record calling Netanyahu a “coward” on the issue of Iran’s nuclear threat. If these reports are accurate, the following question must be asked: did the Obama administration—indeed perhaps President Obama himself—authorize two senior officials to issue these highly provocative and challenging statements? The White House has now tried to distance itself from the views expressed by these individuals, but it seems unlikely that two senior administration officials would go on the record using such explosive words without White House approval. The author of the report, Jeffrey Goldberg, tells us that this is the way American and Israeli officials now talk about each other “behind closed doors.” But these statements were not made behind closed doors. They were made to a prominent journalist, with the intention of having them published and read not only by American and Israeli officials, but also by Iranian officials. That question becomes particularly important in light of another quotation attributed to one of the senior officials: “It’s too late for him to do anything [regarding a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities]. Two three years ago, this was a possibility. But ultimately he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. It was a combination of our pressure and his own unwillingness to do anything dramatic. Now it’s too late.” That official added: “The feeling now is that Bibi’s bluffing…he’s not Begin at Osirak.” This disclosure of such classified administration assessments—whether true or false—will certainly be welcomed in Tehran. It strengthens the Iranian bargaining position, and weakens the power of the United States to demand more of Iran in the ongoing nuclear negotiations, and to demand more of our allies in the event these negotiations break down and additional sanctions are needed.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 01:48:21 +0000
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