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Saturday, November 16, 2013

Hey, Israel and Saudi Arabia working together? Maybe Barry's "smart power" is finally working

Or, um, not. As we see here, the Times of Israel is reporting that Israel and Saudi Arabia are cooperating in plans for a military strike against Iran to keep Iran from completing a nuclear weapon.
Israel is working on coordinating plans for a possible military strike with Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh prepared to provide tactical support to Jerusalem, a British newspaper reported early Sunday.The two countries have both united in worry that the West may come to terms with Iran, easing sanctions and allowing the Islamic Republic to continue its nuclear program.
Apparently, they are doing this because the Obama administration has a major boner to strike a deal -- any deal -- with Iran on nuclear weapons development, regardless of whether that deal actually puts a crimp in Iran's efforts to develop a bomb. The New York Times reports that a deal with Iran is close:
“For the first time in nearly a decade,” the official said, “we are getting close to a first step that would stop the Iranian nuclear program from advancing and roll it back in key areas.”
Talks between six world powers and Iran are scheduled to resume in Geneva next week. Western diplomats hope to complete an accord then that would halt Iran’s nuclear efforts for six months while negotiators pursue a more comprehensive agreement that would ensure that Tehran’s program is solely for civilian purposes.
The problem, apparently, is that the deal the Obama administration is "close" to achieving is really shitty for everybody but Iran. It took France -- France, for crying out loud -- to put the brakes on the shitty deal last week:
Negotiations between Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (the U.S., Great Britain, Russia, China, and France), and Germany hit a snag Saturday after France expressed concerns that the proposed deal did not do enough to trim Iran's nuclear ambitions.
French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that the talks managed to narrow differences without eliminating them, saying there are "still questions to be dealt with" in future rounds. Later, Fabius told France-Inter Radio that France did not want to be part of a "con game."
The cheese-eating surrender monkeys who used to trade hand jobs with Saddam Hussein said that the Obama-proposed deal with Iran was a "con game." Questions, anyone?

You might think that would be enough to slow down the man who is challenging Hillary Clinton for the title of  Worst Secretary of State EVAH, John Kerry. You would be wrong:
Secretary of State John Kerry took his case on Wednesday to Capitol Hill, urging Congress not to impose new sanctions on Iran as talks with that country on its nuclear program heat up.
"Our hope is that no new sanctions would be put in place for the simple reason that, if they are, it could be viewed as bad faith by the people we are negotiating with," Kerry said before entering a closed-door briefing with members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
"It could destroy the ability to be able to get agreement," he added, "and it could actually wind up setting us back in dialogue that's taken 30 years to achieve."
Joltin' John thinks that lifting sanctions on Iran and letting the mullahs continue a nuclear program will be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Oddly enough, some of the countries that are actually within range of a potential Iranian nuclear weapon do not agree:
Iran’s bid for the bomb “threatens directly the future of the Jewish state,” Netanyahu told CNN recently, in a short preview clip of an interview broadcast on Saturday. As the prime minister of Israel, he stressed, he had to care for “the survival of my country.”
. . .
Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim country across the Persian Gulf from Iran, has long been at odds with Tehran, and fears a nuclear weapon would threaten Riyadh and set off a nuclear arms race in the region.
I can only speculate that Barry and the rest of the gang feel like they need to accomplish something, somewhere to make it look like Barry knows his ass from a hole in the ground and is not the most incompetent president since, um, well, shit. I can't think of a more incompetent president, and I'm thinking of you, Jimmy Carter. As it is, with his signature domestic program looking more and more like a complete disaster, Barry would love to have something to show that he has something on the ball, and a deal that "stops" Iran from developing a bomb would fit the bill, even if the deal doesn't actually do that.

Maybe Barry should put forward an Israeli-Saudi join effort as proof that he has a successful Middle East policy. I guess if Obama can get the Israelis and Saudis working together, then that would be a major accomplishment. Of course, they appear to be working together to thwart Obama's diplomatic objectives, but hey. Smart power, baby.

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