(Washington Post) Charles Krauthammer - The Arab states are no longer just whispering their desire for the U.S. to militarily take out Iranian nuclear facilities. The United Arab Emirates' ambassador to Washington said so openly at a conference three weeks ago. Shortly before the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Pat Buchanan famously said that the "only two groups" that wanted the U.S. to forcibly liberate Kuwait were "the Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen corner in the United States." That was a stupid charge, contradicted by the fact that George H.W. Bush went to war leading more than 30 nations, including the largest U.S.-led coalition of Arab states ever assembled. Twenty years later, the libel returns in the form of the scurrilous suggestion that the only ones who want the U.S. to attack Iran's nuclear facilities are Israel and its American supporters. The UAE ambassador is neither Israeli nor American nor Jewish. His publicly expressed desire for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities speaks for the intense Arab fear, approaching panic, of Iran's nuclear program and the urgent hope that the U.S. will take it out. TIME reports ("An Attack on Iran: Back on the Table," July 15) that high administration officials are once again considering the military option. This suggests that after 18 months of failed engagement, the administration is hardening its line. The Iranian regime is beginning to realize that even President Obama's patience is limited - and that Iran may actually face a reckoning for its nuclear defiance.
2010-07-30 09:51:31Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive