Tuesday, March 06, 2012

The Big Two

Remember after WWII we had the Big Three, Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. Thay sat around and divided the world up between them. Now we have the Big Two, Obama and Netanyahu. Things have changed, local autonomy and independence have made a mockery of the plans of even the most powerful men. When Obama came to office as President he decided to go to Cairo and make a speech basically telling the Muslim world that the US and the west were not their enemy. Then there were the insurrections, mostly against pro-American dictators, and now we have the "Arab winter", in which Islamists have taken control of several Arab countries. The result is a tremendous wave of anti-Americanism, one example of which is the disgusting toppling and destruction of the graves of British servicemen (Christians and Jews, many of them "Palestinians") in Benghazi, Libya, who fought bravely to liberate N. Africa from the Nazis and Rommel's Afrika Corps. We see that the Arabs who supported the Germans have now come to the fore again, full circle.

So Obama is re-evaluating. Instead of selling Israel out, at least while the election campaign lasts, he is talking tough, as he did at AIPAC. He will keep the military option on the table against Iran. So who are the two deciding the fate of the world, the US and Israel! Clearly with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US is the only super-power, whatever Putin wishes, Russia is no super-power. And Israel is clearly the strongest military power in the Middle East. If the two countries decide to cooperate, there is no power that can stand against them, certainly not Iran. Let me remind the reader that Iran has not yet developed nuclear weapons, nor the missile capability to deliver them. So if Iran is not deterred by the sanctions and the threats, which it will not be since its rulers are megalomaniacal fundamentalists who think that Allah is on their side, then there must surely be a reckoning, and Israel and the US will show that they will not tolerate this kind of military blackmail.

The differences between Obama and Netanyahu are nuanced. Netanyahu wants it understood overtly that Israel is ready to attack should it be necessary. Obama, wants it understood that the US will not take leadership from Israel and will only activate its plans if, all other things being equal, there is no other choice. So it is a matter of interpretation, but they are on the same page, even if not on the same line. The powers that be have spoken, and the world must take note.

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