New Polity

With American combat troops withdrawn from Iraq and soon to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, the U.S. exodus from the Muslim world is truly underway. The only problem is that a bigger problem remains – namely, Iran. The situation has only been further compounded by other regional powers such as Egypt and Syria sliding further into domestic turmoil. In the midst of this departure, the United States has left its most vital ally in the region, Israel, exposed. Already geographically isolated, Israel seems to be on its own when confronting its neighboring enemies. The prevailing question on everyone’s mind now seems to be: What will Israel do?

With regard to Iran it is not only unlikely but also illogical that Israel will do nothing. Since the New Year there has been increased speculation as to Israel’s plan of action, and the growing consensus is that it is now a matter of when and not if Israel will take preemptive action against Iran and its nuclear program. United States Defense Secretary Leon Panetta only added fuel to this theory when in Brussels he told Washington Post columnist, David Ignatius, that he believed “there is a strong likelihood that Israel will attack Iran in April, May or June.”While hardly a surprising conclusion, the fact that it came from the United States’ most senior defense official only intensifies the attention surrounding the issue. The international community minus China and Russia seems to back the position of preventing Iran from producing a nuclear weapon. Unfortunately no one except Israel appears to be providing a clear deterrent. What seems to be the only and automated response of late are economic sanctions and verbal condemnations from the West. The problem with this approach is that the Iranian economy will never truly be crippled until the Iranians cease to control the oil that flows through the region.

An even more complicated aspect of this looming showdown is that of the American-Israeli alliance. In what has historically been a close relationship, Israel seems to be counting less on the United States when it comes to dealing with Iran directly. The Netanyahu-Obama dynamic has been particularly awkward. Netenyahu, a former Israeli Special Forces Commando, has made no secret of what he perceives to be Obama’s naiveté on the realities of the Middle East. Their relationship is, perhaps, best exemplified on the occasion last year when, prior to Netanyahu’s visit to the United States, Obama stated his desire for Israel to go back to its pre-1967 borders in what was an ill-advised attempt to try and jump start the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. What ensued was an Oval Office photo-op during which Netanyahu dressed down the President on national television and then proceeded to take his lunch money… Obama looked as if he was back in his first year of law school learning contracts…All eyes will be on both leaders when Netanyahu visits the U.S. in March.

While the West has been trying to deal with Iran by freezing bank accounts and squeezing aid, Israel seems to be doing much of the heavy lifting in trying to actually disrupt Iran’s nuclear ambition. In a recent New York Times Magazine article, Ronen Bergmann writes about the unsolved deaths of Iranian scientists and military officials involved in Iran’s nuclear program in some capacity. It is clear that Israel has little choice when it comes to Iran’s obsession with developing a nuclear weapon. It seems to be lost on many that Iran is a tyrannical, theocratic dictatorship which, when not murdering and disappearing its own citizens, is dedicated to the annihilation of Israel and its inhabitants. This is not news. It wasn’t long ago that the world had to sit through Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s calling into question the occurrence of the Holocaust. The very fact that the United Nations, the alleged world beacon of peace, gave this moronic dwarf a platform on which to speak is in itself reprehensible – let alone his ludicrous and sickening denial.

In the likely event that Israel strikes Iran first, there is little doubt that there will be an international outcry of some sort about Israel’s actions. However, before jumping on a bandwagon of self-righteous indignation in condemning Israel’s actions, one should stop and think: What actions would any rational person take to prevent a country, whose primary objective is to eradicate you and your entire race, from obtaining the means to do so?