When it comes to Iran and Israel, Obama is way off target

If Israel ultimately decides that America doesn't have its back and that it must take action to against the threat of nuclear extermination, then Obama will have nobody to blame more than himself.

By ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu look out a window before their lunch at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem (photo credit: OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO / PETE SOUZA)
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu look out a window before their lunch at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem
(photo credit: OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO / PETE SOUZA)
The unelected mullahs in Iran must be having a hearty laugh this week, enjoying the spectacle of the Obama Administration falling over itself to drive a wedge between America and our vital Middle East ally Israel.
For a wartime president who campaigned on pledges to end conflicts in the Middle East, his latest actions suggest that he may be just the man to keep them burning and to even ignite new ones. In Washington a firestorm of controversy has been sparked, but not over Iran's continued intransigence, its stonewalling of international arms inspectors, or even its expanding sphere of deadly influence in the Middle East and gross repression of civil and human rights. Instead, the President’s minions are playing politics to discredit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before he addresses a joint session of Congress on the very real threat posed by Iran’s nuclear arms program.
The absurdity of the world’s superpower undercutting the only Western-style democracy in the Middle East would be laughable if it weren’t deadly serious for this country, Israel and the rest of the world.
At this very moment, government officials whose salaries are paid by American taxpayers are actually cooking up ways to harm America’s relationship with an ally that serves as a bulkhead against radical Islamic terrorist forces in the Middle East and cooperates closely with us on myriad arenas ranging from intelligence, defense and homeland security to agriculture and biotechnology.
This is taking place as billions in cash from loosened sanctions flow into Iran’s coffers, the centrifuges in Iran’s nuclear facilities continue spinning, Tehran continues to stifle international arms inspectors, and America cedes the position of power at the negotiating table to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.
Members of Congress from both parties should be deeply appreciative of the opportunity to hear from Israel’s Prime Minister on an issue of seminal importance to both of our nations. After all, the President’s negotiators are holding secret talks aimed at producing an agreement that they apparently intend to foist on the American public without so much as a debate in the legislature. A bad deal is far worse than no deal, but don’t tell that to President Obama, who seems hell-bent on supplicating to Iran and abandoning our stated goal of dismantling Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for mere promises from Tehran.
Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words. What message do we send, not just to Israel, but to all of America’s friends across the globe, when we allow petty politics to undercut the historic bonds that have united us for decades? This President should be ashamed of his treatment of our friend Israel. He has trained his sights on a crucial ally when we should be focused on our actual enemies.
Let’s not forget who they are. The apocalyptic religious zealots in Iran who spent decades developing a nuclear program in secret that they don’t actually need to produce energy, and which they only came clean about possessing once they were caught red-handed by the international community. Our enemies chant to "Death to America" and burn American flags at public rallies in Iran. They support terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, which has killed more Americans than any terrorist group except al-Qaida. They provide arms, money and moral support to sick murderers who gleefully target innocent men, women and children all over the world.
Those actions should be clear enough, but if the President and his advisors need some other hints about how Iran feels about America then they can note that just last week Tehran held naval military drills in which it swarmed and attacked a mock U.S. aircraft carrier with cruise missiles, shoulder-fired rockets and speedboats.
The President is playing with fire. And if Israel should ultimately decide that America does not have its back and that it must take action to defend itself against the threat of nuclear extermination then President Obama will have nobody to blame more than himself.
Williams is Executive Editor of American Currentsee online magazine and a National TV and Radio US Broadcaster.