With the economy dominating all the talk we haven't heard much lately about what is perhaps the greatest challenge Barack Obama faces. Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic reminds us that the problem hasn't gone away and in fact is closer to the boiling point now than ever before. That problem is what to do about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Israel's new Prime Minister has given President Obama a choice: either we stop Iran or they will, and the deadline is not years in the future but months:
Netanyahu gave his fullest public explication yet of why he believes President Obama must consider Iran's nuclear ambitions to be his preeminent overseas challenge. "Why is this a hinge of history? Several bad results would emanate from this single development. First, Iran's militant proxies would be able to fire rockets and engage in other terror activities while enjoying a nuclear umbrella. This raises the stakes of any confrontation that they'd force on Israel. Instead of being a local event, however painful, it becomes a global one. Second, this development would embolden Islamic militants far and wide, on many continents, who would believe that this is a providential sign, that this fanaticism is on the ultimate road to triumph.
"Third, they would be able to pose a real and credible threat to the supply of oil, to the overwhelming part of the world's oil supply. Fourth, they may threaten to use these weapons or to give them to terrorist proxies of their own, or fabricate terror proxies. Finally, you'd create a great sea change in the balance of power in our area-nearly all the Arab regimes are dead-set opposed to Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons. They fervently hope, even if they don't say it, that the U.S. will act to prevent this, that it will use its political, economic, and, if necessary, military power to prevent this from happening."
If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Netanyahu asserted, Washington's Arab allies would drift into Iran's orbit.
Not only would many of them, including Iraq, cozy up to Iran, but those which could afford it would seek to purchase their own nuclear weapons to counter the Iranian threat.
The last thing the world can tolerate is a nuclear Iran. The question is what will President Obama do to prevent it from happening.
RLC