Iraq and the U.S. Now and Then

"The United States and Israel showed signs of seeking to defuse tensions on Sunday ahead of a speech in Washington by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu when he will warn against a possible nuclear deal with Iran.
Policy differences over the negotiations with Iran remained firm, however, as Netanyahu set off for the United States to deliver the speech, which has imperilled ties between the two allies.
Israel fears that U.S. President Barack Obama's Iran diplomacy, with an end-of-March deadline for a framework accord, will allow its arch foe to develop atomic weapons -- something Tehran denies seeking.
By accepting an invitation from the Republican party to address Congress on Tuesday, the Israeli leader infuriated the Obama administration, which said it was not told of the speech before plans were made public in an apparent breach of protocol.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated Washington's determination to pursue negotiations with Iran, saying on Sunday the United States deserved 'the benefit of the doubt' to see if a nuclear deal could be reached."
Reuters

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens as U.S. President Barack Obama (R) speaks, during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington October 1, 2014.  Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

The United States can afford to weigh the results of their overtures to the Islamic Republic of Iran at leisure, to determine whether their gambit really did deserve "the benefit of the doubt". If the 'nuclear deal' that Iran has continued to regard as its entitlement does conclude as many fear, including the Prime Minister of Israel, the Obama administration can afford to say 'whoops, we erred in judgement', while Israel scrambles to defend itself from a nuclear-armed Iran.

Iran has caused no end of problems for the United States, from its direct attacks on Americans and American symbols, to its training, arming and incitements to violence of non-state knock-offs of its Republican Guard, much like its Lebanese trophy terrorist Hezbollah militias that have done Iran's bidding on the international front, attacking and killing Jews and Israelis in the Republic's existential war against the State of Israel.

"The effect on intelligence collection, not surprisingly, was devastated. I did my own investigation to see just how bad it was. In 1986 the Directorate of Intelligence [in the CIA] had computerized all intelligence reports, putting them on a single server that I wanted to get access to. I started by searching for all reporting on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pasdaran, from human sources -- that is, agents, people on the ground. In the late 1980s, reporting on the Iranian Pasdaran started to taper off. By 1995 there was nothing -- not a single report. It wasn't like the U.S. had lost interest in the Pasdaran, or should have. The Pasdaran blew up the Al-Khobar barracks in Saudi Arabia in 1996. It was more like we had voluntarily deafened ourselves and gouged our eyes out in the midst of an ongoing crisis."
Robert Baer, See No Evil

When Barack Obama ascended to the presidency of the United States of America, he held out a hand in friendship to the Muslim world. He extended an especial appeal for reconciliation to Tehran, and for his troubles received a metaphorical fist-blow to the head in response. It appears to have addled his brain. But he is not unique in understating and failing to comprehend the threat that Iran poses with its single-minded focus on nuclear weaponry.