Disgraceful Iran policy

US Vice President Joe Biden recently said in a pre-taped interview with ABC’s George Stephanoupolos: “Look, Israel can determine for itself - it’s a sovereign nation - what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else… What we believe is in the national interest of the United States, which we, coincidentally, believe is also in the interest of Israel and the whole world… Look, we cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do.”

Does this mean that Obama’s administration has finally realized that Israel was right about Iran all along and that the policy of appeasement of Iran has gruesomely failed? Why has Israel suddenly become “a sovereign nation” facing no pressure from the United States and “coincidentally” with the same interests as the US “and the whole world?” Shouldn’t Israel be recognized as a sovereign country, as any other state is, without any special permission and dispensation from the US?

By now, the US administration and even many Muslim countries have realized that they need Israel to do the dirty work for them to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Later, without any doubt, they will vigorously deny their desire to subdue the Iranian nuclear ambition and will direct wild accusations at Israel over its aggression etc, just as they did after Israel curbed Iraq’s nuclear ambitions in 1981.

Biden’s statement was made after the election in Iran failed to produce a change in the political leadership, and after Iran’s president rejected any negotiations toward ending terminating the nuclear program. At the same time, he has intensified his verbal assaults and threats against Britain and the EU.

Damage control offensive

However, almost immediately after Biden’s remarks, we saw State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly embark on a damage control offensive, rebuffing suggestions that the vice president could be seen as giving the Jewish state a green light to attack Iran.

“I certainly would not want to give a green light to any kind of military action,” Kelly said, although he repeated Biden’s point that Washington considered Israel a “sovereign country” with a right to make its own military decisions. “I wouldn’t read into it any more than what you see... as I said, that we respect Israel’s sovereignty.”

Meanwhile, Egypt has vigorously denied that an Israeli submarine sailed through the Suez Canal last month, while Saudi Arabia has rejected reports that it agreed to permit Israeli fighter jets to use Saudi airspace en route to bombing Iran’s nuclear sites.

In the final analysis, while the US administration and some Muslim countries may be eager to see Israel striking at Iran’s nuclear program, President Obama and other players want to keep their hands clean by maintaining an ambiguous position on the prospect of an Iran strike. They believe this will allow them to rebuke and assault Israel politically after such attack. What a disgraceful double-flip hypocritical policy!