Gates in Israel on Iran
In May, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met to discuss problems in the region. The nuclear ambitious Iran is Israel’s enemy, and an armed Iran poses a serious danger to Israel. Obama told Netanyahu that he wanted to meet with the rogue state by the end of the year to talk about its nuclear program.
Sources are reporting that the president now wants to meet with Iran by September to discuss the matter and will consider tougher sanctions against Iran if it fails to comply. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is on a tour of the Middle East this week. (Source)
Gates said, “What is clear is if the engagement process is not successful, the United States is prepared to press for significant additional sanctions that would be non-incremental” and added that “The president is certainly anticipating or hoping for some kind of a response this fall, perhaps by the time of the UN General Assembly (in September).”
From our perspective, Obama seems to be hedging, hoping Iran with comply with a September deadline on its own. Of course, it won’t. Aside from international condemnation, what consequences has Iran faced because of its defiance? Would the rogue state react the same way if George Bush were still in office?
Despite Iran’s nuclear program and the country’s clear intentions to continue developing nuclear capabilities, Obama wants to reduce missile defense spending by $1.4 billion. As the Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano notes, ballistic missiles are the best weapons we have to stop enemy attacks that would have devastating consequences. But opponents of strong missile defense can’t see the forest for the trees. Iran and rogue cousin North Korea may not have the capability to cause untold damage now, but they will.
Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran, James Carafano, North Korea, Robert Gates